The Boston Herald is reporting that the Red Sox met with free agent pitcher John Lackey’s agent at the General Manager’s meetings in Chicago this past week. It goes on to say that the Sox are merely in the preliminary stages and have not decided whether they will make an offer or not.
Going after Lackey is a bit of a curious move for the Sox given they already have Jon Lester and Josh Beckett at the top of the rotation and Clay Buchholz pitched fairly well down the stretch for the Sox save his last two outings of the regular season. Daisuke Matsuzaka also seemed to get it together once he returned from his extensive stint on the disabled list.
What makes this even more curious is the fact that Theo Epstein is considering this move regardless of the fact that Lackey has never been particularly successful when facing the Yankees. His just 5-7 with a 4.66 versus them during his career. He is, however, 0-1 with a 2.73 ERA in the postseason against the Yankees.
Lackey would provide some depth and insurance for the Red Sox in the event Matsuzaka’s shoulder or Tim Wakefield’s back blow up on them again next season, but, what to do if both stay healthy next season? Wakefield pitches a fit any time Terry Francona tries to move him to the pen, only Lester won as many games as Buchholz did for Boston after the break last season, and, when healthy, Matsuzaka is as good as there is in Boston’s rotation.
It seems like Lackey could create more headaches than he is worth unless, of course, Epstein has eyes on dealing someone like Matsuzaka, or, biting the bullet and giving the Mariners what they want to land Felix Hernandez. It is believed that any deal for Hernandez involving Boston would have to start with Buchholz and blue chip reliever Daniel Bard.
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