John Lackey joins Boston in curious move

By all indications, the Red Sox will have John Lackey serving as their No. 3 starter this upcoming season. The right-hander inked a five-year, $85 million deal which is exactly market value for his services. Lackey is a solid signing for the Red Sox, as long as they don't attempt to stretch him into an ace. The 31-year old is in the mold of Josh Beckett, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis: hard-nosed, fiery people who want to be out there every day kicking butt and taking names. The five years is a point of contention. Boston has always been steadfast in its refusal to commit extended years to a pitcher. This is Theo Epstein's first five-year commitment to a free agent pitcher. Jon Lester was his first five-year pitcher, but of course, Lester is six years younger with three arbitration years factored into the contract -- so really, only two free agent years were bought out. That five-year commitment to Lackey scares me, especially when the final year will be when Lackey is 35 years old. Coupled with his injury red flags and contact numbers, and I can't really figure out what Boston saw in Lackey. Does he have a good chance of repeating his 2009 numbers over the next five years? Yes. But there is an equal chance of something going horribly awry. It doesn't seem characteristic of Theo to commit this risk to a pitcher. To a position player, sure. But he's been very good on the pitching ledger, so he's stuck his neck out a bit with this pact.

Lackey, Chapman to Boston?

UPDATE 2: Jon Heyman says that Lackey's contract is five years, $85 million. I'll wait a bit before passing judgment because initial contract term rumors end up being more "in the area" than accurate. I will say that if it's a fully guaranteed five years, I am very, very surprised Boston chose Lackey of all people to commit five years to. This seems to signal that Jason Bay will not return, although I'm sure the door is not closed just yet. Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that John Lackey is taking a physical with the Red Sox. If true (Price is working to confirm the rumor from a source he trusts), Boston at the very least has some sort of framework agreement in place with Lackey to bring him to Beantown.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade RP6: Mike Myers

Manny Delcarmen has the years of service, while Rod Beck would have been an appropriate homage to the early decade. Alas, they lost out on a Team of the Decade spot to someone else. It's not often that a player who has pitched just 52.1 innings for a club is named to the Team of the Decade. But it's not often a player like the sidewinding Mike Myers comes along, either.

Fire Brand adds writers (plus other notes)

Fire Brand is undergoing a couple of changes, much like the Red Sox. Unlike the club, however, there's no "bridge" year -- we're bringing you only the best. Troy Patterson and Lee Perrault of Yawkey Way Academy are joining Fire Brand to help us continue bringing strong opinion and analysis of the Sox to the masses.

Report: Red Sox acquire Max Ramirez for Mike Lowell

Ken Rosenthal on Twitter reports that the Red Sox are trading Mike Lowell to the Texas Rangers. In exchange for eating most of Lowell's $12 million salary, the Red Sox are receiving catcher Max Ramirez. Read on to hear about the potential fallout of the trade.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade CL: Jonathan Papelbon

Keith Foulke gave his right arm to pitch the Sox to the 2004 World Series. I'm forever appreciative of what Foulke did -- moreso than most people, I think -- but it's obvious that Jonathan Papelbon ranks as the closer of the All-Aughts Team of the Decade. Papelbon holds the record for most career saves in Boston -- all this despite entering 2010 at the tender age of 29. Paps' 151 saves blew past Bob Stanley's old record. Those saves were all legitimate too: his 1.84 ERA in two innings short of 300 IP is outstanding. Among Boston relievers who had 80 percent of their appearances out of the bullpen as well as a minimum of 250 innings pitched, Papelbon checks in at numero uno on the list for ERA. In 2006, Keith Foulke was supposed to be the closer despite injuries nagging him. When Terry Francona needed a closer on April 5 against Texas, he did not summon Foulke. No, Papelbon was the guy. He would go on to rattle off seven straight saves, finish the season with 35 saves, be named to the All-Star team and rank second in Rookie of the Year voting (Justin Verlander). His 0.92 ERA that season still stands as a personal best

Epstein warning fans about Sox downturn in ’10?

In Sunday's newspaper, the biggest caution flag on the 2010 season yet was tossed. This offseason, one of the hottest debates surrounding the Red Sox is if the team should "go for it" this year -- ala sign Matt Holliday/Jason Bay, pull off a blockbuster trade, so on and so forth. The flip side of the argument was waiting until 2011 where there's a more competitive free agent class, an increased likelihood of a blockbuster trade and a farm system whose window is 2011-2013. My opinion has been that the Red Sox are going to stand pat and play out 2010 with their club largely intact along with no major changes. Whether you agree with it or not, it seems as if this is exactly what Boston is going to do.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade 3B: Bill Mueller

The hot corner was the the only significant debate I had at naming the All-Aughts Team of the Decade. Was it Bill Mueller or Mike Lowell? On the face of it, how can you not have the 2007 World Series MVP on the Team of the Decade? But I've made my choice in Mueller. If you want Lowell on the team, check back after everyone is named and we do a Fire Brand vote on an honorable and dishonorable mention. Mueller joined the Red Sox in 2003 as a free agent. You may recall how Mueller had to fight for playing time alongside Shea Hillenbrand, Jeremy Giambi and David Ortiz. Clearly, we know which two names won the battle. When Hillenbrand was dealt in May for Byung-Hyun Kim to come in as closer, Mueller was installed as the full-time third-baseman.

Red Sox heading down under to Australia

Sorry for the overused cliche in the headline. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Boston has reached an agreement to play an "official" Major League game in Sydney. "Official" could mean a regular season game, or it could just mean an exhibition sanctioned by the MLB. Whatever the case, the game would take place in late March and is a great way to expand baseball's international presence. As for the team itself, the Red Sox are a popular team down under and the club has had several Australian prospects and personnel come through the organization in recent years.

The 2010 Hardball Times Annual

This season, I have been contributing to the Hardball Times and HEATER Magazine, both of which are coming out with annuals that review the 2009 season and look forward to 2010. Whether for yourself or as a gift for the holidays, I endorse each site's annual. Today, I'll talk about the 2010 Hardball Times Annual. The 2010 Graphical Player Annual will come in a couple days. You can purchase the THT Annual through this link.