The Boston Red Sox landed the top free agent pitcher in free agency when they inked John Lackey to a five-year deal worth more than $82 million. Lackey, who has spent his whole career with the Los Angeles Angels, now joins Josh Becket and Jon Lester in Boston’s rotation. The 31-year-old was 11-8 last season with the Angels. He finished with a 3.83 ERA and had 139 strikeouts in 176.1 innings. He has at least nine wins in each season of his career and has had a sub-4.00 ERA the last five seasons. The money for Lackey opened when the Red Sox apparently gave up on signing free agent Jason Bay. Instead, they locked up a pitcher who has pitched very well against Boston in the playoffs recently. Last offseason, the New York Yankees gave A.J.... [Read more]

A couple years ago, Chien-Ming Wang was seen as a promising building block for the New York Yankees. After a horrendous season in 2009, the Yankees have cut Wang and he’s now free to sign with any team. The 29-year-old from Taiwan made $5 million last year. In his first three starts of 2009, Wang gave up 23 earned runs in six innings. He pitched better as the season went on but he still finished the year with scary bad numbers — a 9.64 ERA, a 2.02 WHIP and a record of 1-6 for the eventual World Series champions. In 2006 and 2007, Wang won 19 games in each season. In 2006, he had an ERA of 3.63, while his 2007 ERA was 3.70. But after getting injured in interleague play in 2008, Wang has never been the same. Even though he’s... [Read more]

Matt Diaz had a breakout season last year with the Atlanta Braves. The Braves rewarded Diaz with a new one-year contract worth about $2.5 million. The 31-year-old right fielder is expected to start for Atlanta in 2010. Last season, Diaz hit .313 with 13 homers, 58 RBIs and 56 runs. He also had 12 stolen bases and an on-base precentage of .390. Diaz was especially dominant against lefties — hitting .412 with an on-base percentage of .464. Although he got off to a relatively slow start, Diaz dialed it up late in the campaign. After the All-Star break, he hit .321 with nine homers, 36 RBIs and 30 runs. On Saturday, the Braves also let go of Kelly Johnson, who had spent much of the last three seasons as the team’s starting second baseman.... [Read more]

Last season, the Tampa Bay Rays landed short of expectations. After reaching the 2008 World Series, the Rays regressed to the point that they didn’t sniff the playoffs. One big reason was the lack of a dominant closer. To fill that void, the Rays have acquired Rafael Soriano. After signing Billy Wagner, the Atlanta Braves no longer needed Soriano at closer. The Rays jumped at the opportunity to trade for Soriano and gave the Braves Jesse Chavez. The Rays then signed Soriano to a deal worth $7.25 million over one season. In 77 appearances, Soriano had an ERA of 2.97 and 27 saves in 31 opportunities. In 75.2 innings, he gave up 53 hits and struck out 102 batters. For five straight seasons, Soriano has had an ERA at 3.00 or lower. Despite... [Read more]

Tom Hicks, the owner of the Texas Rangers, is having money trouble. That has caused the Rangers to get inventive when it comes to filling out the roster. GM Jon Daniels did just that — flipping Kevin Millwood into three players. First Daniels traded Millwood to the Baltimore Orioles for Chris Ray. After saving money on that deal, the Rangers turned around and signed Rich Harden and traded for Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox. The biggest name in that trio is Harden. He’s a starting pitcher with a high ceiling who has had trouble staying healthy. Ray is a reliever who struggled last year after recovering from surgery. Lowell is a veteran who could possibly fill in at third base, first base and DH. The Rangers will miss Millwood but... [Read more]