Cubs Sign Playoff Ace

The Chicago Cubs have reached into Theo Epstein’s past to pull out another gem.

Sources: Lackey in agreement with #Cubs, two years, $32M-$34M, pending physical.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2015

While signing John Lackey doesn’t have the same luster as, “the Cubs sign David Price,” it does line up with a source and what the Chicago Sun-Times Gordon Wittenmyer relayed about the Cubs budget. This move was originally talked about a few short weeks ago, and over the past week it really gained steam, ending with a flourish of rumors Friday.

one gm: lackey likely to sign soon. his best guess: 2 yrs, >30M. @TBrownYahoo says cubs "pretty hot" on JL

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 4, 2015

As CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman and Yahoo’s Tim Brown were reporting just five minutes before Ken Rosenthal broke the news, this was a rapidly moving development throughout the day.

John Lackey had been expressing his desire to pitch with former Red Sox buddy Jon Lester, as well as reunite with Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. When it was apparent the top tier pitchers were not going to fall into their price range (around $25 AVV) and the news that Jeff Samardzija has a possible six year $90 million deal on the table, Jed and Theo turned their attention towards Lackey.

Lackey, who spent all but the last two seasons in the American League, became a much more polished pitcher for the St Louis Cardinals. Holding a 3.10 ERA over those last two seasons, which included a 2.77 mark in 2015, Lackey will be a solid adition to the Cubs rotation.

The Lackey signing makes sense for a number of reasons, he is immediately one of the top third starters in the NL, the money fits the ultimate plan/budget, this allows the team to sign addition pieces, and he becomes a great option to give the ball to in a tough playoff series.

For the second consecutive season the Cubs have acquired the top free agent playoff pitcher on the market. In 2014 they nabbed Jon Lester, and this season they grabbed Lackey. In 23 career postseason games, Lackey has a 3.11 ERA with eight wins against his five losses. He also has a 3.42 ERA in six career World Series games,  where he’s earned two wins. I’m also certain Cubs fans remember his performance in Game 1 of the NLDS, where he masterfully pitched his way through the Cubs offense.

There is some risk to Lackey. He is 37 years old, and if the Cubs find themselves in the 2017 World Series he will celebrate his 40th birthday while playing for the team. While he pitched 211 innings last season, he had only 60 the year before, hadn’t hit the 200 inning mark since 2010, and has only accomplished that feat a handful of times over his 12 year career.

It is likely that the Cubs will still look towards acquiring another starter through trade, preferably a younger guy that will be cost controlled for several years. Names like Carlos Carrasco, Shelby Miller, Julio Teheran, and Sonny Gray have all been rumored. Any of these names would slide in perfectly as a fourth starter, and in the event Lackey needs time off (fatigue or injury) the Cubs will have Jason Hammel ready to step in.

This is a good move Cubs fans, it might not be the David Price or Zack Greinke move, but it allows the Cubs the flexibility to still acquire those last few pieces they need, which will hopefully mean a long playoff run in 2016.

Jamie Baker

Hi, I’m Jamie and I run this site. I’ve published work on multiple other sites and through that experience I decided to create CHICAGO style SPORTS. We truly aim to speak for the Chicago fan. Additionally, as a member of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) you can be assured that all content you read will be written with incredible integrity.

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