The John Lackey Case

[magnumo]

John Lackey just completed the 2nd year of his 5-year, $82.5 million contract with the Red Sox, with a record of 12-12 and an ERA of 6.41. Now, it has been announced that Lackey will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 3rd season of his contract in 2012. So, that's over $30 million pretty much down the drain for 2011 (bad production) and 2012 (no production).

I know that Lackey represents only one contract for one starting pitcher, but there are have been MANY other similar situations around MLB. Perhaps the Red Sox can afford that kind of risk, but it seems that the Pirates cannot.

On the other hand, without extending competitive multi-year contract offers to decent major league starters (and actually signing some), how can the Pirates ever hope to compete (especially year after year)?

Here's a set of possible multiple-choice anwers.....

1. Bite the bullet and go ahead and extend such contract offers. (No guarantee anyone will sign here UNLESS we overpay.)

2A. Draft well, develop well, and be lucky enough to bring up a bunch of good, cheap starters at the same time..... recognizing that most or all will need to be traded before free agency..... and then start over. (The only alternative to "starting over" seems to be making this work year after year after year.....)

2B. Same as 2A, but in the non-drafted international free-agent market.

3. Find diamonds-in-the-rough (major or minor league guys) who are missed by or not wanted by other teams.

4. Find good risks in rehabilitation projects (guys coming back from injury or formerly good pitchers with poor recent performance).

5. Accept that the Pirates cannot become competitive, given MLB's current financial playing field. That is, give up.

No Pirate fan wants to choose answer #5..... and the Lackey situation seems to reinforce that answer #1 isn't viable for a small-market team like the Bucs. So, I guess my answer is a combination of answers #2, #3, and #4.

- Answers #2A and 2B demand good amateur scouting.

- Answers #3 and #4 demand good professional scouting and astute transactions (trades and free agent signings).

No doubt, this is a difficult path, demanding a lot of talent evaluation skills and a lot of "right moves"..... but it seems to be what's required.



Here's a link to an AP article on the Lackey case, for those interested:
My Way - Sports News

 

[element1286]

I think it all depends on the length of deals. Not that there is a strict cutoff, but I would be wary of the Pirates signing anyone to a 4,5,6+ year deal who is around 30 years old.

By defualt that would leave them out of the bidding for top free agents. As shown last year, they were willing to go 3 years for De La Rosa, but balked when he wanted 4 years.

If they become competetive, there is no reason to think they can't get a vet on a one year deal.

Management doesn't seem keen on reclamation projects, Brandon Webb, Jeff Francis, Chein-Ming Wang, etc. I don't know why, but most of those have been failures to the teams they have pitched for after being hurt.

So I would say 2A, 2B, 3, and 4 are the best options, and should all be explored.

 

[thedddd]

2A - 4 I think every team deploys that approach if possible. I bet if the Yankees could develop an ace through the system they would rather than paying CC over 100 million.


Anyway back to the points 2A and 2B not only is it the scouting they need to demand/invest better in developmental coaching so these types of players can become major league talent.

 

[element1286]

2A - 4 I think every team deploys that approach if possible. I bet if the Yankees could develop an ace through the system they would rather than paying CC over 100 million.


Anyway back to the points 2A and 2B not only is it the scouting they need to demand/invest better in developmental coaching so these types of players can become major league talent.

I think development aspect of the FO is still in question. They have done a good job collecting talent, but not a great job of developing it, so far. Let's hope that the guys in A/A- have less than stellar numbers because they weren't using their breaking pitches, and they will be ready to break out when the competition gets better. Or that the slow movement of college hitters through the system actually has some kind of marked developmental value.