By signing right-hander Josh Beckett to a four-year deal worth $68 million, that’s exactly what Boston has; its three frontline starters — Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey — are each under team control through 2014.
"It’s hard to have an elite organization without excellent starting pitching,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said at a Fenway Park press conference to announce the Beckett signing Monday. “I think we have even higher standards here. You need starting pitching that can succeed in the American League East against these tough lineups that you face night in and night out. When you have that pitching, you don’t want to let it get away.”
While few teams in the majors can claim the same quality trio at the front end of the rotation, none can come close to being able to pencil them in for the next five years, including 2010. Throw in the fact that Clay Buchholz, at 25 potentially an ace in waiting, is also controlled by the team through 2014 and that Daisuke Matsuzaka is in the fold through 2012, and Boston has its foundation in place for some time to come.
Although Beckett may have earned a fifth year that comparable pitchers have recently received (including Lackey) on the free agent market, being a part of that core group of pitchers is what made his decision to settle on four years an easy one.
“A lot of people look at what you lost and I look at what I gained here,” Beckett said. “I gained four years more of stability, knowing that I’m going to be in an organization that’s going to put a competitive team out there every year. That can’t be underestimated, either.
"The season gets very long when you’re losing 90 games. Whenever you got a chance to win 100 games every year, the season goes by a little faster. I know I’m gonna have a chance to win every year here."
The 29-year-old said that Epstein had called him the day Lackey was signed in order to assure Beckett that he was not going to be pushed out of town. Both sides indicated that the phone call precipitated a smooth negotiation.
“It meant a lot,” Beckett said of the call. “I knew there was no reason for him to do that without there being some merit to it.”
While the exact terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed, there has been talk for months about whether the organization will be able to include an insurance policy to protect it against a potential Beckett shoulder injury.
Epstein said the club has “outstanding health reports” on Beckett, while the righty is pleased that the team is comfortable allowing him to take the steps to remain healthy, even if that means missing a start here and there through the course of the contract.
“The thing the Red Sox see is they’re not worried about skimping on the things that make me healthy,” Beckett added.
Still, Monday’s announcement does not mean that the Sox are out of decisions to make. Players at five of the nine spots in the regular lineup have contracts that either expire at the end of this year or at the close of the 2011 season, including catcher Victor Martinez and designated hitter David Ortiz, free agents next offseason. (Ortiz holds a 2011 team option for $12.5 million.)
In a roundabout way, Epstein indicated that such commodities are a bit easier to find in a pinch.
“[Pitching] is hard to acquire in free agency,” he said. “It’s hard to acquire in a trade. And it’s hard to draft and develop.”
It can be even harder to achieve historical success with that pitcher, something the Red Sox and Beckett now have in sight.
Averaging 15 wins a year through the remainder of his contract, Beckett would finish the deal ranked third behind only Roger Clemens, Cy Young and Tim Wakefield on the all-time franchise wins list. He currently has 65, while Clemens and Young are tied for the franchise lead with 192.
Maintaining his current rate in Boston of 181 strikeouts a season would leave him fourth in that category behind Clemens, Wakefield and Pedro Martinez. With 724 currently, he trails Clemens' mark of 2,590.
Only Clemens, Young and Wakefield would be ahead of Beckett in innings pitched if the Texan stays healthy.
That’s all a bit down the road, but at least the paths have been laid out in front of Josh Beckett and his fellow starters. They will run parallel to one another for the next five seasons.
