Angels' John Lackey Thwarted in Game Five...Will He Stay in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles Angels pitcher John Lackey could be the most sought free agent in MLB’s upcoming offseason and up 4-0 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning in Game Five of the American League Championship Series, Lackey was fired up about being taken out of the game.

Although the Yankees staged a furious rally after Lackey’s exit, the Angels used a determined seventh-inning comeback to slip away with a 7-6 win, sending the series back to New York where rain may be on tap for Saturday’s Game Six.

Still, after being removed from the biggest game of the year, with two outs in seventh inning and in the midst of a shutout, will Lackey return to Los Angeles for another championship run in 2010?

Lackey’s Game Five counterpart, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett, inked a five-year, $82.5 million deal last offseason. The Yankees also signed CC Sabathia, the best pitcher thus far in the 2009 postseason, to a seven-year $161 million contract. First baseman Mark Teixeira, Lackey’s teammate last season, joined the Yanks with an eight-year, $180 million deal.

Lackey is the Angels’ highest-paid pitcher, earning $10 million this season—tied with injured starter Kelvim Escobar—and has a 2.29 ERA in three starts this postseason. He led the AL in ERA in 2007, was a rookie on the Angels’ 2002 World Series championship team, and though he’s spent his entire eight-year major league career with the Angels, the 31-year-old All-Star pitcher should have plenty of options in the offseason.

Like Josh Beckett, Andy Pettitte, and Roger Clemens, Lackey is another tall, hard-throwing pitcher from Texas and the cream of this year’s MLB free agent crop could re-sign with the Angels, return to his home state, or consider some of the many other offers he's likely to receive from teams looking to improve their starting rotations.

The Boston Red Sox, like the Angels and Yankees, are big spenders and struggled to fill out their starting rotation in 2009. Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein could be enticed by a Lackey, a pitcher who has plenty of postseason experience.

Game Five began as a showcase of Lackey’s immense talent and his startling ability to shut down the superstar-laden New York Yankees.

The Angels righthander had silenced Yankee bats until the seventh inning when Lackey gave up a one-out double to Yankees center fielder Melky Cabrera and became frustrated with umpire Field Culbreth after he walked catcher Jorge Posada on a full count.

His adrenaline pumping in an elimination contest that he had dominated to that point, Lackey gestured that he didn’t like the call at all and during a conference with teammates, Culbreth responded that he didn’t like the display of disappointment.

Culbreth was pitcher-friendly for much of the game, giving Lackey and Burnett beneficial calls on pitches that were low and away.

Lackey was the recipient of several of these calls and with a bevy of called strikes he was able to register seven strikeouts in the game—including four batters who struck out looking.

After walking Posada, Lackey was clearly out of sync, missing badly while throwing four consecutive balls outside the strike zone and issuing first base pass to shortstop Derek Jeter.

The bases were loaded, but Lackey composed himself and was able to induce a fly out from left fielder Johnny Damon.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia, a former major league catcher, may have sensed that Lackey was fading and was still upset after failing to retire Posada earlier in the inning. He made the tough decision to bring in left-handed reliever Darren Oliver to face New York’s switch-hitting Teixeira, who was 1-for-3 with a single and a strikeout against Lackey.

Lackey was visibly upset and Fox television cameras appeared to capture him telling Scioscia that “This is mine,” indicating that he wasn’t ready to leave and risk losing his shutout while he was in the dugout.

The Yankees exploded against Oliver, scoring six runs in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead.

Lackey’s worst fears were realized and after leaving the game with a 4-0 lead, his team was down 6-4 and suddenly a shutout was the least of the Angels’ worries. Though the Angels were able to regain the lead and cut New York’s series lead to 3-2, after the game Lackey was still frustrated with the call and expressed that he had indeed struck out Posada in the seventh.

The starters in the Angels rotation have been with the team their entire careers and Los Angeles is probably Lackey’s most likely destination. However, last season Los Angeles let record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez depart in free agency and Rodriguez’s replacement, Brian Fuentes, led the majors in saves in 2009.  

The offseason hasn’t arrived just yet and the Angels still have a chance to go to the World Series, thanks in no small part to Lackey’s gritty Game Five performance.