Lackey to the Cubs 2 years, $32-34 Million

[bill hAll Star]

Let's see if he goes back to a 3.6-3.7 ERA out of the magical confines of the Cardinals organization.

[jerichoholicninja]

For a team with their kind of money this is a relatively low risk deal. If/when Lackey implodes they just take their loss and move on. I would have guessed that they could have gotten a better pitcher though.

[502 to Right]

2 year deal? Nice deal for the Cubs. Very low risk and a fairly good upside.

 

Arrieta

Lester

Lackey

Hammel

Hendricks

 

That's a pretty good rotation and they might still sign another big time pitcher this winter.

[torts]

ABTC, best of luck!

[splitterpfj]

When a 37-year-old pitcher gets 32M guaranteed, you know baseball has stupid money right now.

[ZBTMP]

When a 37-year-old pitcher gets 32M guaranteed, you know baseball has stupid money right now.

 

Plus he cost a 1st round pick. Granted, the Cubs could sign another QO free agent with less consequence and will get a pick for Fowler. So far father time hasn't slowed Lackey, but as we have seen with Suppan, Wolf, and Lohse; it happens fast.

[craigharmann]

This is awesome. It takes him away from the Cards, hurting them and if he is ineffective or gets hurt, or ages, it hurts the Cubs. Couldn't be better.

[gregmag]

This is awesome. It takes him away from the Cards, hurting them and if he is ineffective or gets hurt, or ages, it hurts the Cubs. Couldn't be better.

Sorry I'm in persnickety mode this morning, but how can it hurt both teams? If he's good, it helps the Cubs and hurts the Cards. If he's bad, it hurts the Cubs and helps the Cards.

 

I agree with the point above. It's low-risk for the Cubs. Probably it stabilizes their rotation. If not, who cares -- they have money to burn.

 

It's hard to overstate how badly the Cubs' win in the NLDS demoralized Cards fans. It was like their Vietnam -- they thought they couldn't lose to these upstarts. For now, at least, this signing will further sweeten the delicious nectar of their tears.

[craigharmann]

This is awesome. It takes him away from the Cards, hurting them and if he is ineffective or gets hurt, or ages, it hurts the Cubs. Couldn't be better.

Sorry I'm in persnickety mode this morning, but how can it hurt both teams? If he's good, it helps the Cubs and hurts the Cards. If he's bad, it hurts the Cubs and helps the Cards.

 

I agree with the point above. It's low-risk for the Cubs. Probably it stabilizes their rotation. If not, who cares -- they have money to burn.

 

It's hard to overstate how badly the Cubs' win in the NLDS demoralized Cards fans. It was like their Vietnam -- they thought they couldn't lose to these upstarts. For now, at least, this signing will further sweeten the delicious nectar of their tears.

 

Easy. He won't be good. He won't live up to the money of the contract, hurting the Cubs. He's off the Cards, thereby hurting them. Lose-lose all around.

[brewerfan82]

Easy. He won't be good. He won't live up to the money of the contract, hurting the Cubs. He's off the Cards, thereby hurting them. Lose-lose all around.

 

So... He'll be worse than whoever the Cubs would have pitched if they didn't sign him AND he'll be better than whoever the Cardinals pitch without him? That's the only way that makes any sense.

[craigharmann]

Easy. He won't be good. He won't live up to the money of the contract, hurting the Cubs. He's off the Cards, thereby hurting them. Lose-lose all around.

 

So... He'll be worse than whoever the Cubs would have pitched if they didn't sign him AND he'll be better than whoever the Cardinals pitch without him? That's the only way that makes any sense.

 

Got it!

[brewcrewdue80]

Wait, Lackey was sent a QO by the Cardinals? Wow does this division enjoy giving up 1st rd picks and giving Stl a comp pick.

[JohnBriggs12]

Listening to Chicago radio you'd think this was a brilliant move. They talk as if it's a lock that at 37 he's simply going to repeat his 2015. The one chink in the Cubs rise is they don't have a deep inventory of young starting pitching to draw upon to fill out their rotation. Not unlike the Brewers of 7-8 years ago. They are either going to have to trade away talented position players or sign guys like Lackey as they are not quite in financial position to do another Lester type contract.

 

Look on paper they have an awesome lineup, so whoever's starting for them is going to win a lot of games. But Lackey could well do a Suppan or Lohse type regression. If that happens they'll be scrambling for starting pitching at the trade deadline.

[3and2Fastball]

Listening to Chicago radio you'd think this was a brilliant move. They talk as if it's a lock that at 37 he's simply going to repeat his 2015. The one chink in the Cubs rise is they don't have a deep inventory of young starting pitching to draw upon to fill out their rotation. Not unlike the Brewers of 7-8 years ago. They are either going to have to trade away talented position players or sign guys like Lackey as they are not quite in financial position to do another Lester type contract.

.

 

 

Agreed. I expected them to break the bank for Price or Greinke or, honestly, both.

[brewcrewdue80]

I gotta say after the above comment....

If Chi wasn't preparing to sign Price or Grienke,

Jumping the gun and signing a much weaker SP in Lester is a very bad GM call. Really, if you ask anyone, which pitcher do you more, Lester or Price,/or Lester or Grienke?

They stuck themselves with the worst of the 3. Imagine Grienke+Arrieta?

[3and2Fastball]

I gotta say after the above comment....

If Chi wasn't preparing to sign Price or Grienke,

Jumping the gun and signing a much weaker SP in Lester is a very bad GM call. Really, if you ask anyone, which pitcher do you more, Lester or Price,/or Lester or Grienke?

They stuck themselves with the worst of the 3. Imagine Grienke+Arrieta?

 

Just a guess but they are looking at a 5 Year window, that's what they have guaranteed with Schwarber, Bryant etc, correct? Probably felt like the advantages of Price or Greinke in the 1st 2 years of a big contract are outweighed by the risking of paying that much to an aging pitcher in Years 3, 4, & 5 of that window

 

They need to do something with their pitching staff, though, beyond Lackey. No team can just bash their way to a World Series

[MrTPlush]

I think they are looking at a bigger window than 5 years. They have serious payroll room so resigning a star or two is certainly possible. I don't think they are looking at a 5 years window if you ask me. That team could easily become a perennial contender for a long time much similar to St. Louis.

[homer]

Looking at some numbers it appears Lackey will most likely regress a bit this season based on nothing other than changes in luck and defense.

[Thurston Fluff]

I think they are looking at a bigger window than 5 years. They have serious payroll room so resigning a star or two is certainly possible. I don't think they are looking at a 5 years window if you ask me. That team could easily become a perennial contender for a long time much similar to St. Louis.

 

Things rarely go that smooth. They had a great season with few injuries and everyone playing up to their standard. A few injuries, someone slumps, another moves on and any team can turn average pretty fast. The Brewers sure did.

[brewerfan82]

Except the Cubs aren't the Brewers. The scary thing with the Cubs is they grew their team into a contender the way a small market team needs to, through young talent and their farm system, but can now spend money like a big market team to maintain, grow and expand that talent. They succeeded probably a year earlier than anticipated, but they have the resources to fill holes and take it to the next step as needed.

[3and2Fastball]

Miguel Montero will be a Free Agent in 2018

Jake Arrieta will be a Free Agent in 2018

Anthony Rizzo will be a Free Agent in 2020

Kris Bryant will be a Free Agent in 2022

Jorge Soler will be a Free Agent in 2021

Addison Russell will be a Free Agent in 2021

Kyle Schwarber will be a Free Agent in 2022

 

They are definitely stacked with talent for awhile. Still need lots of pitching

[logan82]

They could easily sign some of those guys to extensions too.

[MrTPlush]

They could easily sign some of those guys to extensions too.

 

Or replace them with up and coming prospects. That team is incredibly loaded. They have such a strong core and enough stars they won't feel the need to ever blow prospects to compete. I am sure their system will be loaded by 2020 once again. Prime team to compete for a long long time.

[brewcrewdue80]

They could easily sign some of those guys to extensions too.

 

Or replace them with up and coming prospects. That team is incredibly loaded. They have such a strong core and enough stars they won't feel the need to ever blow prospects to compete. I am sure their system will be loaded by 2020 once again. Prime team to compete for a long long time.

 

The International market will make sure that happens with how it's now abused by big market teams. This is another reason the Brewers will have a hard time competing, not just the vast difference in TV market revenue but the Cubs ability to go out spend 30some million plus tax and signing internationals. They can go sign Lackey, maybe Cueto yet, I wouldn't be surprised.

[Thurston Fluff]

Except the Cubs aren't the Brewers. The scary thing with the Cubs is they grew their team into a contender the way a small market team needs to, through young talent and their farm system, but can now spend money like a big market team to maintain, grow and expand that talent. They succeeded probably a year earlier than anticipated, but they have the resources to fill holes and take it to the next step as needed.

 

I understand they grew this group into a contender like small market teams do. But I'm not talking about how they built a competitive team. I am talking about how they maintain it. Small market teams get competitive by sucking large for a while just like the Cubs did. But they maintain their competitiveness, as much as it is possible to do so, by trading their assets before they hit free agency, drafting well and making astute second tier free agent signings. When this group starts to hit free agency the Cubs will have to sign them and fall into the big spenders trap of long contracts for huge money or they will let them go and let their competitive window close. So where exactly is their ability to be competitive over more than the next five years coming from? The same place as any other big market team. Huge payrolls and taking on a lot of risk.

 

While I understand MrTPlush's belief that the cubs farm is so deep that it will be able to just replace the likes of Bryant and Rizzo and keep right on going, I do not agree. If it was why did they have to supplement their roster now with the likes of Lester and Lackey? Not a single regular starter was drafted by them. All of them were either free agents or traded for. That hardly seems like a farm deep enough to allow for trades and replacing outgoing free agents more than five years from now when they will no longer have top 10 draft picks. They will go big market and have to deal with the risk just like every other club who can afford it does. Their window as a big market team operating like a small market team certainly isn't more than five years.