Unless an injury occurs or a trade happens, the Boston Red Sox will have four-fifths of their starting rotation set until 2014. That is because John Lackey, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and now Josh Beckett are under team control until that year.
Yesterday, the Red Sox signed Beckett to a four-year, $68 million contract extension. The deal will pay Beckett $15.7 million from 2011-2014. Beckett also received a $5 million signing bonus.
When the deal ends, Beckett will be finishing his 14th year in the major leagues and will be 34 years old.
It seems like Beckett has been around forever and should be a lot older, but when you make your major league debut at the age of 21, then it’s going to seem that way.
Beckett came to the Red Sox in 2006 in the deal that sent Hanley Ramirez to the Florida Marlins...a deal, by the way, that Theo Epstein still seems bitter about.
If it was up to Epstein, he would have never have made that trade in a million years. If it were up to me, I would have made that trade then and knowing how things have turned out, probably would do it again today.
Ramirez is an unbelievable talent. I think he will win the MVP this year. But Beckett’s performance in the 2007 playoffs was worth the deal. If it wasn’t for him, the Red Sox would have never won the 2007 World Series.
And it’s not like Beckett has been chopped liver other than his 2007 playoff run. Sure, he has had his bouts of inconsistency, but for the most part, he has been a solid ace at the top of the Red Sox rotation.
Most importantly, Beckett has remained healthy (knock on wood) since joining the Red Sox. In his four years, Beckett has made 33, 30, 27, and 32 starts. His injury problems that he went through with the Marlins seem to be long behind him.
Beckett is 65-34 as a member of the Red Sox.
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