Red Sox close in on Lackey; Angels target Matsui

Right now a number of sources are reporting that John Lackey has taken a physical with the Red Sox. This is said to indicate that the team is close to coming to an agreement with the free agent pitcher. Meanwhile, the Angels have reportedly offered Hideki Matsui a 1yr $6.5 million deal.

The Red Sox logic is unclear. Recently I analyzed the Sox team as it stood just after season’s end. They don’t need pitching. The Red Sox project to have a rotation of Josh Beckett, John Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Bucholz and Tim Wakefield even without Lackey. That is a solid rotation, featuring a legit 1-2 punch in Beckett and Lester, a young player slowly reaching his potential in Bucholz, a low cost veteran in Wakefield, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka is the only starter the Sox would probably want to cut ties with, except he has a full no-trade clause.

The Red Sox are also trying to deal Mike Lowell to Texas, and are struggling to retain the services of Jason Bay. Lowell had a solid 2009. Bay led the team in home runs and RBI. The Red Sox need a bat, especially if both these guys leave. The money spent on Lackey would be better suited going to Jason Bay or Matt Holiday.

The logical conclusion is that the Sox intend to sign Lackey and trade Buchholz for a slugger, possibly San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez. Taking on Gonzalez at first, moving Youkilis back to his natural third base position, and adding Lackey to an already deep pitching staff would retain some, but not all, of the value the Sox stand to lose this offseason. Gonzalez would cover Bay’s production, but not Lowell’s as well.

Clay Buchholz, meanwhile, had a strong 2009 for a young pitcher. 2010 projects to be a breakout year for him. I struggle to see the direction the Sox are taking. Ask yourselves this, would you rather have Clay Buchholz and $80 million to throw at a bat, or Lackey, no Buchholz, and be out more money to extend any bat you trade for?

Shifting focus to the West Coast, some Yankee fans I know are already wondering if the team will try to match Anaheim’s offer to Matsui. I doubt they will. If the Yankees re-sign Johnny Damon at $10 million a season they will, at the present time, have five outfielders, seven starters (if you count Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre), and about $10.5 million less in salary versus last year. If the team truly wants to cut costs then it doesn’t have a lot of options left. Damon is a more attractive DH option than Matsui because he can at least play the field badly.

Taking what the team has been saying at face value, after the Yanks re-sign Damon they may be done this off-season, unless they can make a move that is a clear slam dunk. Damon is a more flexible DH option than Matsui and fits the teams new mantra of rotating that position. The Yankees would have become less expensive. They would have improved defensively in two positions (if you move Melky to left). They would have kept all but one of their 2009 players on the team. The Angels, on the other hand, desperately need a new DH.