John Lackey and His 6.41 ERA to Undergo Tommy John Surgery

After enduring a rather rough season with the Boston Red Sox in which he apparently spent more time drinking beer and scarfing down fried chicken than improving his pitching, John Lackey will undergo reconstructive elbow surgery and miss the entire 2012 season.

The right-hander seriously sucked it up in 2011, ending the season with a 12-12 record and 6.41 ERA. If he wasn't in his second of a five-year, $82.5 million contract -- at the age of 33 no less -- he would totally be a free agent right about now.

Spankin' new general manager Ben Cherington had this to say regarding Lackey's terrible season:

"[Lackey] pitched through circumstances this year that I don’t think any of us in this room can fully understand, and he got beat up for it a little bit along the way. This guy was dealing with some stuff both on the field and off the field that were really difficult. I thought he showed tremendous toughness pitching through that.”

One of these difficult offseason circumstances Cherington eluded to may have been Lackey filing for divorce from his wife, who has breast cancer. Yikes.

The general rehabilitation period from Tommy John surgery is 12-18 months. While many pitchers come back as if they have shiny new robot arms, others never pitch well again. Guess we'll see how Lackey is affected by the surgery in 2013!

[NESN]

Leave it to a $161 Million Payroll to Try and Steal the Postseason Thunder

In case you missed it, the Boston Red Sox epic collapse is still in motion. Leave it to a $161 million payroll to try and steal the thunder of the playoffs. I mean, would you look at that? They didn't even make the playoffs, yet here we are talking about them.

From Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe:

"How a team that was on pace in late August to win 100 games and contend for its third World Series title in seven years self-destructed is a story of disunity, disloyalty, and dysfunction like few others in franchise history."

Good point, I suppose. It all started with them losing a crap-ton of games during the final month of the season. In fact, they failed to put together any sort of winning streak, never winning more than one game in a row in the whole month of September. Total failure.

Terry Francona, living in a hotel all season while in the middle of a separation from his wife, was "let go" as Boston refused to pick up his 2012 contract option. However, he kept his head up and did color commentary, surviving the voice of Joe Buck during the first two games of the ALCS. We're proud of him.

General Manager Theo Epstein was the next to go, taking the vacant position of Chicago Cubs GM for $15 million over the next five seasons. Obviously, he's planning on ending their 102-year Championship drought.

Boston Red Sox Cling to One-Game Wild Card Lead

The Boston Red Sox are hanging on for dear life to their one-game lead in the American League Wild Card race.

Thanks to a Jacoby Ellsbury three-run shot with two out in the 14th inning, his Red Sox managed to beat the AL East champion New York Yankees 7-4 during Sunday's doubleheader nightcap after dropping the opener. The outfielder is batting .322 on the season with 31 homers and 103 RBI with 38 stolen bases as well. God, that's sexy.

Smokin' Hot Stove: John Lackey

The Boston Red Sox have been pretty busy. All in one day, they reached tentative agreements with husky right-hander John Lackey and centerfielder Mike Cameron.

Lackey agreed to a five-year contract worth roughly $17.5 million annually, according to who else, but an anonymous source familiar with the incomplete, secret negotiations. Meanwhile, Cameron agreed to a two-year contract possibly worth $8 million a season, subject to a physical.

ALCS: That Game Was Ridiculous

Holy smokes, now that was a poorly-managed ball game.

The Los Angeles Angels kept their World Series dreams alive for one more night, coming away with a 7-6 win over the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the ALCS Thursday night in what turned out to be a helluva baseball game.

John Lackey Out 3-4 Weeks

John Lackey will be sidelined for 3-4 weeks after an MRI showed a strained right triceps Friday.

The Los Angeles Angels right-hander made his first spring training start last Monday, tossing 1.2 innings against the Oakland Athletics, apparently without pain. But since the Halos are out their ace for Opening Day, they may be forced to go with their projected No. 2 starter, Kelvim Escobar.

Lackey, a 19-game winner last season, enjoyed a 3.01 ERA with 179 strikeouts in 2007.

[Los Angeles Times]

That Dirty Rally Monkey

John Lackey helped the Los Angeles Angels clinch their third AL West title in four years Sunday, leading his club to a 7-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

After losing two in a row to their division rivals, the Halos pulled out a win in their final home game of the season in front of a sellout crowd, who missed out on the playoffs last year.

Macier Izturis and Casey Kotchman homered in the third inning, which was enough to give Lackey his 18th W, holding the Mariners to two runs over seven innings.

[Halos Heaven]

John Lackey Has Things On His Mind

Good lord, it's too early for this kind of stuff.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher John Lackey has started his own blog on YardBarker. What's it called, you ask? Why, it's called "John Lackey's Official YardBarker Blog" of course. Catchy, I know.

It doesn't seem as personal as Curt Schilling's blow-hard, on-and-on, ranting place he calls 38 pitches, but it may provide some insight into his game as he answers questions in the comments.

So. Who's next, Manny Ramirez? I'm sure the world would love to know what he's really thinking about in the outfield when he's just being Manny.

[Red Sox Times] | [John Lackey's Blog]