Free-agent right-hander John Lackey underwent a physical Monday with the Red Sox, an indication that he is close to an agreement with the team, according to a major-league source.Lackey's personality annoys me quite a bit, but the man can pitch -- over the last five seasons, his ERA+ of 128 tops Beckett's 116. Indeed, Beckett is his top comp at B-Ref. A threesome of Beckett, Lackey (who turned 31 this past October) and Jon Lester would be pretty nice.
The deal is expected to be similar to the five-year, $82.5 million contract that the Yankees awarded free-agent right-hander A.J. Burnett last winter.
We'll see if adding him means Clay Buchholz is traded or that the team is focusing on run prevention rather than offense and will go cheap in left field or if Theo expects Josh Beckett to walk after this year (or the Sox will let him walk). However, Rosenthal also states that the Red Sox are trying to sign a contract extension with Beckett.
Plus they have reportedly made an offer worth approximately $15.5 million to former Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman.
Ugh. Good pitcher, and Beckett/Lester/Lackey would be icy. Clay and Dice at the end of that, hopefully they can put together good seasons.
ReplyDeleteHe's just quite the whiny bitch. Oh well.
Good to see Halladay out of the division!
I don't like him. Period.
ReplyDeleteHalladay to Philadelphia? Lee to Seattle? Is it possible? What do the Yankees get as compensation? :-)
ReplyDeleteNone of us like him, but we'll all like him in the rotation.
ReplyDeleteGood to see Halladay out of the division!
That's what I said about Randy Johnson once. The words came back to bite me. Back in the beforetime.
As much of a pain in the a$$ as Lackey might be, I'd take him any day of the week and twice on Sunday. On paper, it makes the Sox rotation that much better.
ReplyDeleteRemember when we cheered for Canseco? We can cheer for Lackey.
I'd rather pay Lackey for 4 years than Bay for 5.
ReplyDeleteWe should be a very good pitching/fielding club -- we don't need big bats to keep a high run differential. Back to the Deadball Era of 3-2 and 2-1 wins!
Remember when we cheered for Canseco?
Not really, no.
Perhaps no shocker, but I have no recollection of ever cheering for Canseco. I had to look up when it was he played for the Sox. Not long enough for me to remember or to care.
ReplyDeleteI guess we are all easy. We will cheer for anyone in the right uniform. Would we cheer for ARod if he were on the Sox? Or Bonds? It would make me gag.
Bonds in his prime? I'd have traded half the team for him in an eyeblink. So would Theo.
ReplyDeleteBut btw, I never cheered for Canseco, on any team. He was always a buffoon.
ReplyDeleteBack to the Deadball Era of 3-2 and 2-1 wins!
ReplyDeleteFingernails be damned!
I clearly meant steroid era Bonds. He may have been a bastard even before then, but I have cheered for many players with whom I doubt I would have shared a beer. I would have cheered for early Bonds. But I doubt I would have cheered for late Bonds, if the Sox had picked him up in the last couple of years.
ReplyDeleteI will enjoy some close games. They make for less colorful game threads though, since we all stay focused on the games!
ReplyDeleteI was going to pose a question, "Would we cheer for this?" with the word "this" linking to Gregg Zaun's website with Zorro flash intro and Rush blasting.
ReplyDeleteThis is even funnier.
Ugh, Zaun - please don't ever test me that way!
ReplyDeleteTim, that link's not working. Not for me, anyway.
I clearly meant steroid era Bonds.
ReplyDeleteI did too.
And as far as I know, there's no evidence of Bonds being a bastard. He's well liked by all his teammates, and has always been good to fans. The media says he's a bastard, but never offers any evidence to back it up.
ReplyDeleteThe link from Tim didn't work for me either. Some error message about the bandwidth??
ReplyDeleteI said Bonds may have been a bastard, but I would have rooted for him anyway before all the steroid stuff.
I love it. Great rotation. And no low cost/high return gamble/project type starters either. If pitching and defense reallu wins championships we should feel pretty good.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he's exceeded his bandwidth is funny to me ;-)
ReplyDeleteMust've been the intro.
The question is whether this sets up a Buchholz trade, possibly for Adrian Gonzalez. I think Theo would be willing to part with HH + just about anyone except for Casey Kelly, but Kelly's going to be the other one they ask for. I don't know how hard they're pushing this idea, but it may come down to whether or not we can put together a package (in addition to Buchholz) which will make them happy without Kelly.
ReplyDeleteI have heard 5/85 for Lackey. A lot, but not completely nuts.
As for the changing face of the team -- well, at least there are new players to get interested in. And more old friends on other teams to follow and root for.
As for the changing face of the team -- well, at least there are new players to get interested in. And more old friends on other teams to follow and root for.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me smile. I love the "glass half full attitude," and this convinced me to stop being a sentimental fool and just get with the program. Thanks, Zen!
Halladay to Philly and Lee to Seattle means no more Halladay in our division, a nice short-term easement of the AL East pressure. It's not clear what the hell the Jays are getting out of this, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Zen!
ReplyDeleteAw. Thanks for saying so.
If it really is 5 years, I will be deeply saddened. Lackey hasn't been real durable the past couple of seasons, he's a bad personality with fluctuating results and we potentially are stuck with him through age 36. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the Sox are offering $80 Million for Lackey. At least we're throwing money to a veteran. We seem to like to toss money to projects. Did you here that Yankees cut Wang and Sox are talking. Let's just take Seattle's Ichiro for the Japanese connection. Oh and Matsui is talking with the Angels.
ReplyDeleteThey're offering Lackey 80 Million. At least it's a veteran. We seem to like the projects..i.e. Bonzer.
ReplyDeleteWang got cut by Yankees and Sox are talking. Matsui probably going to the Angels. It's nice to see the Yankees losing personnel too.
Sorry if Bay doesn't sign.. no nonsense player while he hit 35 dingers he also was 4th in Strikeouts in MLB. He really needs a personality or maybe that's what Canada makes.
Chapman in the bullpen to start the year? Or in the minors? I'm confused as to what his development path would be, but I like the idea.
ReplyDeleteHe really needs a personality or maybe that's what Canada makes.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we're all featureless drones up here.
Yeah, we're all featureless drones up here.
ReplyDeleteGee, took you long enough. I was holding my breath, waiting for the response!
Chapman in the bullpen to start the year? Or in the minors? I'm confused as to what his development path would be, but I like the idea.
ReplyDeleteHe's 21. I'd say minors for sure.
SoSHer pokey_reese:
"The main concern with Chapman, aside from the well-discussed issues of maturity, Cuban imports failing to live up to hype, and lack of refined secondary pitches, has been inconsistent velocity, and the fear that he will not be able to routinely repeat the mechanics that make him a 98-100 mph lefty."
I watched a video of Chapman the Defector from Cuba with Triple Digit fastball pitches. He's all over the place. He's Mitch Williams wild so he's a work in progress. But if you can throw that fast you make Millions on just the potential.
ReplyDeleteGee, took you long enough. I was holding my breath, waiting for the response!
ReplyDelete:>)
I only see comments on off-season threads when I put them through moderation. I don't really read or comment in the off-season otherwise.
I just signed up on this site but have enjoyed this blog for the last year. I actually really like Canadians. My Bro-In-Law from Vancouver - go Canucks. Great comment thread here and no Yankees that I've seen.
ReplyDeleteand no Yankees that I've seen.
ReplyDeleteWe've had a few, but they all eventually flipped out and got banned.