Why did Beckett need to approve Lackey's contract? On Sun, Dec 20, 2009 at 2:38 PM, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote:
> Speaking of injuries, I introduce the following from Nick Cafardo's > baseball column. It addresses some of Matt's questions about the Sox' > reluctance to go five years with Bay, and why they would sign JD Drew with > his injury history. > > The Red Sox have really protected themselves the past few years by either > drawing the line on the number of years they’ll offer a free agent or trying > to work in protections outside of the normal insurance they take out on > player contracts. > > In *Pedro Martinez*’s case in 2004, the Sox relied on the evaluation of > their medical staff and fell short of Martinez’s demand for more years. The > Mets gave him the extra year he desired, and sure enough, Martinez broke > down less than halfway through his four-year contract. > > The Mets, desperate for a righthanded bat, may make the same mistake > with*Jason > Bay *(above) by offering a fifth year. The Sox offered four, anticipating > Bay’s shoulder history could result in lost time down the road. This was the > major reason the Sox, according to *Peter Gammons *of MLB and NESN, were > willing to offer *Matt Holliday *five years and $82.5 million, because > there are no major preexisting physical issues. > > The Sox got protection in *J.D. Drew’s *contract on a preexisting right > shoulder issue, enabling them to void the contract should Drew miss 35 days > or more on the disabled list either last season or in 2010. His agent, *Scott > Boras*, signed off on it. > > Apparently, Lackey’s agent, *Steve Hilliard*, gave the Sox protection in > Lackey’s contract should he incur a major injury and miss significant time. > Because of this, the Sox were willing to give Lackey a five-year deal after > the Angels had come after him hard with a four-year proposal. > > According to Sox GM *Theo Epstein*, Beckett approved of Lackey’s deal, > which begs the question of whether Beckett would also agree to give the team > protection in a new contract if his shoulder issues were to resurface. > > The Sox aren’t afraid to let Beckett pitch through this coming season to > see how he holds up before committing to him. Beckett is pitching for a > contract, which is always a good thing for the team. It behooves Beckett to > get back to top form, because then he’ll break the bank in Boston or > elsewhere. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<redsoxcitizens%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > -- Author of "Leading After a Layoff: Reignite Your Team's Productivity in Just 12 Weeks" www.leadingafteralayoff.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en.
