Red Sox Sign John Lackey for $85 million over 5 years

December 15, 2009

By DailySkew

Jon Heyman is reporting that the Boston Red Sox signed free agent pitcher John Lackey for 5 years, worth $85 million ($17 million a year). That smells like an act of desperation by Boston GM Theo Epstein. Considering Epstein’s pitching rotation on paper last year, and the fact that they didn’t deliver as a whole due to injuries and inconsistencies, it’s no wonder that he is investing a lot of money to try and solidify the rotation.

Lackey’s personality fits right in the Boston clubhouse, and he is durable. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s more consistent than the Red Sox starting rotation of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Dice-K, and Tim Wakefield slash Clay Buchholz for parts of the season. That being said, with a decreased strikeout rate and the fact that he did land on the DL a few times in recent years, shows that his is a big risk to take for 5 years (he’s 31 now). I can see Boston fans turning on him at times, but they should appreciate his tenacity.

It seems like Epstein and Cashman both believe that you can’t have too much starting pitching. Considering the Yankees would not have won the 2009 World Series without solid efforts by CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, I can see why.

However, I don’t think this free agent signing will tip the scales to the Red Sox. In fact this may be a plan for Epstein to trade Josh Beckett or something crazy like that.

Question for New York Mets fans: Now what are you going to do? Tune in to Mike on WFAN today to find out.

2003 Upper Deck # 1 John Lackey Star Rookie Anaheim Angels Baseball Card