Free-agent pitcher John Lackey has agreed to a two-year contract with the Chicago Cubs, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The deal is still pending a physical.
Tim Brown of Yahoo! reported earlier in the day on Friday of the Cubs interest in Lackey and that both sides were discussing two-or-three-year deals.
Sources have told FOX Sports’ Rosenthal that the deal is worth between $32 million and $34 million, with MLB.com’s Cubs reporter, Carrie Muskat, confirming the agreement.
Lackey, 37, went 13-10 with a career best 2.77 ERA in 33 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2015, with 175 strikeouts and 53 walks in 218 innings.
Lackey was arguably one of the best bargains in MLB this past season, making the major league minimum of $507,500 which was a condition of his five-year, $82.5 million contract he signed with the Boston Red Sox before the 2010 season. The additional year was added after Lackey missed the 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Since his Tommy John surgery, Lackey has gone 37-33 with a 3.35 ERA. And over the last three seasons, Lackey is averaging 31 starts, 202 innings and 167 strikeouts per year.
Adding John Lackey actually makes sense for the Cubs, considering the veteran right-hander has ties to the organization. Cubs president Theo Epstein signed John Lackey to a free-agent deal when Epstein was the General Manager of the Red Sox. Lackey is also good friends with the Cubs ace Jon Lester, who was Lackey’s teammate with the Red Sox when the two helped Boston win the World Series back in 2013.
Lackey did decline a qualifying offer of a one-year, $15.8 million from the Cardinals back in November, which means the Cubs will have to forfeit their first-round pick in the 2016 draft. The Cardinals will also receive an extra draft pick in the supplemental round between the first and second rounds.
Lackey will more than likely fit into the No. 3 spot in the rotation behind Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester. Righties Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks would round out the No. 4 and 5 spots in the rotation pending other deals by the Cubs.
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