John Lackey Tommy John Surgery: Boston Red Sox Are Better Off Without Him

The injury to Boston Red Sox starter John Lackey is no big deal. This won't make the Sox situation anymore dire than it was before the news broke that Lackey wouldn't throw another pitch until 2013.

When Lackey came over from the Los Angeles Angels, it was thought that his big-game experience and moderate regular season success would carry over to Boston. He was supposed to be the pitcher that got Boston back to the World Series.

Boy, that didn't work out.

In his two seasons with the Red Sox, Lackey is 26-23, sporting an ERA of 5.40.

Those numbers look good as compared to his numbers last year, which were by far the worst season of his career.

12-12, 6.41 ERA in 28 starts.

Combine those horrendous numbers with a 2011 September collapse and you have yourself a bust, my friends. In case you were wondering, Lackey helped the Red Sox debacle by going 0-2 with a 9.13 ERA in September.

To add fuel to the fire, Lackey was one of the Boston pitchers who was reported to have been in the clubhouse drinking beer, playing video games and eating friend chicken during their off days.

He has been the exact opposite of the big-game pitcher the Red Sox were looking for when they gave him a five-year, $82.5 million contract in 2010.

With or without Lackey, the Sox would be looking to improve their starting rotation this offseason. There was no way the Red Sox would be depending on Lackey to be a major contributor next season.

If anything, it's a blessing in disguise that Lackey will be out. I never wish injury on anyone, but the Sox will be able to hide their disappointing righty for an entire year, eliminating a major distraction for their team.

If anything, Red Sox fans should be happy about this. It will now force the Sox to make a move this offseason to get pitching, which like I said, would have happened anyway. But now, it may force the Sox to do something more serious than just picking up a third or fourth starter.

Speculation is running wild that the Red Sox will make a play for CC Sabathia if and when he opts out. C.J. Wilson also may be in play now. That might be a little bit of an overkill considering the Sox don't really need an ace. But since this has happened, don't rule out a desperation play like that.

The Sox realistically need a guy like Roy Oswalt or Mark Buehrle to sure up their rotation. Either pitcher would easily be an upgrade over Lackey and give the Red Sox the starting rotation depth they thought they were getting when they signed him.

It's never a good thing to root for an injury in sports, but in this instance, I think we can make an exception.