With John Lackey Signing, Red Sox Nation Sees Its Christmas Wishes Answered

The Boston Red Sox hosted its annual “Christmas At Fenway” event over the weekend, but as far as Red Sox Nation is concerned, Christmas arrived at Fenway Park today.

In the aftermath of the NY Yankees' acquisition of Curtis Granderson, Red Sox co-owner Larry Lucchino and GM Theo Epstein talked about building a bridge to the future—suggesting the Red Sox may not be active in the free agent market (or in trade talks) as the team awaited the development of its young prospects.

The Boston media excoriated the Red Sox for their declarations. Writers like Boston Globe naysayer Dan Shaughnessy lambasted the Sox front office for reaching into the pockets of Red Sox Nation while talking about “a bridge to the future.”

Some Boston media types (myself included) declared we should be patient—that we should wait and see what the organization did as the offseason unfolded. After all, the calendar hadn’t even reached mid-December...and as Epstein observed late last week, the Mark Teixeira deal—the pivotal signing of last winter—didn’t occur until just before Christmas.

Well, today that patience paid off. BIG TIME.

When all was said and done, it appears Lucchino and Epstein were playing possum so that the hated Yankees couldn’t swoop in at the last minute and upset the apple cart (as they did last year during Boston’s pursuit of Teixeira).

So much for the curly-headed boyfriend’s predictions of gloom and doom.

For the last several weeks I’ve been advocating the Sox make RHP John Lackey their No. 1 priority this offseason.

Yesterday, I wrote they should turn to CF Mike Cameron to address their vacancy in the outfield after Jason Bay turned down their most recent contract offer (and agent Joe Urbon desperately tried to turn up the heat on the ballclub by using the media to inform Red Sox Nation his client was prepared to “move on”).

Today, BOTH players became members of the Red Sox. To use a term of this joyous season: Hallelujah!

This is EXACTLY what needed to happen on Yawkey Way. The fact it happened today, in advance of Christmas, means that the holiday season will be MUCH happier in a hundred thousand New England homes over the next two weeks.

The Sox have instantly become MUCH stronger on the mound and in the outfield. They did so without having to sacrifice any minor leaguers or much in the way of draft picks.

As suggested weeks ago, the Sox will benefit greatly from diving head first into the waters of free agency this season. While they will lose their first- and second-round picks in next year’s draft as a result of signing Lackey and Marco Scutaro, they can ONLY lose those two picks, regardless of how many compensation-level free agents they sign. So, if they are going to sign two such free agents, they may as well sign five of them.

The loss of their picks will be more than offset by the FOUR picks they will receive in return for the loss of Jason Bay and Billy Wagner. (NOTE: Picks received as compensation for the loss of a free agent do not have to be forfeited when signing another team’s free agent.)

Of course, the prospects not traded for Roy Halladay or Felix Hernandez are now available in the future, either as trade chips or as big league contributors in the future (can you say “Casey Kelly in 2011?″),

The Red Sox website is reporting that the ball club and Lackey, the former ace of the LA Angels, have agreed to a five-year, $85 million deal. The deal was apparently agreed upon sometime last night and was dependent on a physical. In the aftermath of reaching an accord, the parties were so anxious to get the deal done that Lackey came to Boston today for his exam.

Reportedly, he passed the exam and the deal was done.

With the Lackey deal finalized, and with LF Jason Bay "ready to move on," the Red Sox wisely turned their attention to the 37-year-old Cameron, who hit .250 with 24 HR and 70 RBI last season for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Like Bay, Cameron has a penchant for striking out (he whiffed 156 times in ‘09), but, you can live with the strikeouts when the defense is superlative and the contract is affordable (according to reports, he agreed to a two-year deal totaling $15.5 million—less than what it would have cost to sign Bay for just one season).

The deal is dependent upon Cameron passing a physical—he will be in Boston tomorrow for his exam.

Lackey will join Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz in what has to be considered baseball’s best rotation top to bottom.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will now almost assuredly assume the role of reliever/swingman—which will allow the club to manage his workload more effectively in consideration of the back problems he’s suffered from over the last two seasons.

It appears Urbon’s declaration that Bay was ready to move on caused the Red Sox to end their (half-hearted) efforts to sign him and that sometime on Saturday the club made the decision to reallocate the $16-17 million per year from left field to the pitcher’s mound.

Lackey is known as an incredibly fierce competitor. The Red Sox website includes a reference to him as “a bulldog.” He went 11-8, 3.83, in 27 starts last season. He has compiled a 102-71 record, with a 3.81 ERA, during his eight-year career (all with the Angels).

Cameron is a career .250 hitter with 265 HR and 926 RBI during his 15-year career. The Red Sox will be his seventh team.