Headline in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal:
Be Happy Your Team Didn’t Buy Any Pitching
Lede:
While baseball teams have significantly cut back on their spending over the last two winters, general managers are still often seduced by the lure of a proven veteran starting pitcher. Teams spend millions on name value arms to avoid having to rely on untested young pitchers, but as the early returns from numerous free agent pitchers show, the law of the land should remain buyer beware.
Among the Journal’s Free Agent Duds: Red Sox winter acquisition John Lackey, late of the Los Angeles (or wherever they call themselves these days) Angels.
Lackey’s line so far: Five years, $83 million, 2-1, 4.50 ERA.
WSJ:
Even John Lackey, the prize of the free agent arms this winter, has struggled with his new team and has yet to show the quality that the Red Sox thought their $82.5 million investment was getting them.
Red Sox Nation: Is the Journal right? Is Lackey lacking?
Discuss among yourselves.
Campaign Outsider 
Let’s ignore the fact that judging a 5-year signing on one month’s performance is nonsensical. The article’s premise only looks at high-priced pitchers acquired as free agents. This allows them to ignore the Yankees new high-priced pitcher Javier Vazquez, acquired through a trade, who they’re paying more than $11M for a 1-3 record with a 9.78 ERA.
2-1, 4.50 is about what you would expect from Lackey, who has never pitched all that well in April (career 13-10 4.76). He’ll be just fine this year. (What I’m concerned about are years 4 and 5 of that contract!)
I entirely agree, Steve. As for Vazquez, I’m still having nightmares about him from 2004.