John Lackey traded to Cardinals, Red Sox get Joe Kelly and Allen Craig

It’s everything-must-go day in Boston, and the most recent beneficiary is St. Louis, which picked up veteran right-handed starter John Lackey and minor league left-hander Corey Littrell in return for slumping slugger Allen Craig and 26-year-old right-hander Joe Kelly. That last year’s World Series opponents would, just nine months after 2013’s last out, match up in such a deal is evidence of the capriciousness with which the Baseball Gods regard the word “depth.” They like it about as much as they liked disco or a good real-estate bubble -- by the time you can point to it as something that’s happening, it’s already over.

The St. Louis Cardinals entered the 2014 season with all the pitching depth imaginable. Remember, this was a team so rich in pitching that in last year’s playoffs it all but told Shelby Miller to go home, see you at spring training. They opened the campaign with a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, and Joe Kelly. They also had hard-throwing righty Carlos Martinez waiting in the wings -- well, more specifically, in the bullpen -- as well as veteran Jaime Garcia, who made his return from labrum and rotator-cuff surgery in May. There was additional support from 2013 first-rounder Marco Gonzales, who was thought to be not far away, and 26-year-old fringe lefty Tyler Lyons.