John Lackey for five years?
That’s more like it. I was beginning to worry that the Red Sox’ winter haul was going to be Marco, Boof, Fabio . . . and pray for rain.
What a great town. Just when you think the whole week is going to be devoted to Randy Being Randy (Bowser Moss has clinched the Hub’s coveted Manny Ramirez Milk-Bone Dog Biscuit Award), the Sox jump off their bridge of mediocrity and make a play for the best free agent pitcher on the market.
The Sox still need a couple of bats. They still need one or two guys like Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Adrian Gonzalez, or Miguel Cabrera. But Boston’s loyal fans should be happy that the Sox are spending money and going for Lackey. It demonstrates that the brass is still trying to compete with the Yankees, still willing to commit big dollars in the quest for a championship.
Theo Epstein had us worried last week when he delivered his unfortunate “bridge’’ speech in his Marriott suite in downtown Indianapolis. It sounded like the Sox were going to go cheap while waiting for Jose Iglesias, Ryan Kalish, Casey Kelly, and Ryan Westmoreland.
The backlash was immediate. Sox fans are in no mood to forfeit the 2010 season, standing on the “Lars Anderson’’ Bridge.
Now it looks like you won’t have to wait. Either the Sox suddenly realized that fans won’t settle for a couple of soft seasons, or they’ve been dealing close to the vest. The bottom line is that John Henry apparently plans to stay in the money game and compete with the Yankees.
Lackey (five years, north of $80 million) is a fine start.
The big righty has a career record of 102-71 with a 3.81 ERA. He’s 6 feet 6 inches, weighs 245 and, like Josh Beckett, hails from Texas. He’s got attitude (think Schill without the fraud factor) and he fears nothing. At the age of 23, Lackey took the ball and beat Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series. He was the first rookie to win a seventh game since the immortal Babe Adams did it for the Pirates in 1909.
The last time we saw Lackey, he was walking off the Big A mound after smothering the Red Sox on four hits over 7 1/3 innings in a 5-0 playoff victory. Lackey’s Game 1 win set the tone for the Angels’ sweep and amplified the Sox’ offensive woes.
His spot in the rotation gives Boston another ace and a little insurance in the event Beckett, in the final year of his contract, walks after the season. Meanwhile, a quintet of Beckett, Jon Lester, Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz sounds pretty good. Tim Wakefield will be around for insurance.
