The Chicago Cubs have reportedly added to their starting rotation on Friday, agreeing to terms with pitcher John Lackey on a two-year contract worth $32 million, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. The deal is still pending a physical, notes Rosenthal.
John Lackey agrees to 2-year deal with Cubs, per report
Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
Tim Brown of Yahoo! reported earlier Friday of the Cubs’ interest in Lackey, with both sides talking potential two- or three-year deals.
Lackey, who turned 37 in October, was 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.
He was one of the best bargains in baseball in 2015, earning the major league minimum of $507,500 as a condition of his five-year, $82.5 million contract 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 surgery, Lackey is 37-33 with a 3.35 ERA and a 119 ERA+. Over those three seasons, he is averaging 31 starts, 202 innings and 167 strikeouts per year.
He reunites in Chicago with Jon Lester, his rotation-mate on the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox.
Lackey was rated as the 12th-best free agent of the offseason by our own Grant Brisbee in October.
Lackey declined a qualifying offer of one year, $15.8 million from the Cardinals in November, meaning the Cubs will have to forfeit their first-round pick in the 2016 draft. The Cardinals will receive an extra draft pick in the supplemental round between the first and second rounds.
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