Comments on: Free Agent John Lackey

By: solbro

solbro — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:20:54 +0000

I think he’s been a great Angel and it would sure be great to have him back.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:54:22 +0000

i have heard that Brad Penny and John Smoltz are available.

By: MBD

MBD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:43:00 +0000

I didn’t mean to imply that the Angels weren’t a contender. I’m just thinking that good teams, such as the Angels and the Red Sox, might get a slight discount from a guy who wants to win.

By: MBD

MBD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:41:22 +0000

Ah, good point. I should have looked into the minor-league numbers. Thanks.

By: Steve C

Steve C — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:34:06 +0000

Clay also pitched 99 in the minors so I would not be terribly surprised to see the Red Sox just let him pitch without using the kid gloves.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:26:05 +0000

“[Lackey's] worth looking at and may want to pitch for a contender.”

The Angels have won the AL West 5 of the last 6 seasons (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009) and won the World Series as the Wild-Card in 2002. He doesn’t need to move to the AL East to pitch for a contender.

By: MBD

MBD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:12:04 +0000

I agree that they won’t want to go more than 3 years (if they’ll even go to 3), but they need good innings from somewhere and can’t count on Daisuke (59 IP in 2009), Wakefield (129 IP and getting older), and Buchholz (92 IP and not likely to be pushed beyond 150 in 2010, if that high). Lackey, even with his injuries, has thrown at least 163 innings in each of the last 7 years. He’s worth looking at and may want to pitch for a contender. Of course, the main need for the Sox is on defense, where Bay+Ellsbury+Lowell+Lugo/Lowrie didn’t work. They could sign Bay to split time between LF and DH until Ortiz (the main offensive problem in ’09) is gone and maybe trade for DeJesus (mentioned in another post) to be their starting LF. Or sign Holliday for LF, let Bay walk, and hope that Ortiz is better in 2010. And why can’t this team find a SS?

What about the Mets and Lackey? They need a real starter, and the switch to the NL should be good for him.

By: Jack Moore

Jack Moore — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:59:26 +0000

It’s usually not a good idea to limit yourself to the last two years. Also, Lackey’s HR/FB in 2008 (his 2 win season) was ridiculously high, so he in reality pitched far better than a 2 win pitcher. It’s my belief that his “true talent,” as it were, is closer to a 4 or 5 win pitcher because of this, but of course this is where opinion and interpretation work their way into these sorts of analyses.

When I say expecting 4 wins is irresponsible, I’m more referring to expecting 4 wins in each year of the contract. Due to pitcher attrition it’s very very hard to expect that.

By: Logan

Logan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:38:12 +0000

Solid analysis Jack.

By: Judy

Judy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:34:37 +0000

Even then, when have they given out 3+ year contracts to pitchers over 30?