St. Louis Cardinals Acquire John Lackey From Boston

Photo Credit: Michael Dwyer - Associated Press

Photo Credit: Michael Dwyer – Associated Press

Just hours after trading away Jon Lester to Oakland, the Boston Red Sox have traded away yet another pitcher; John Lackey will be sent to the St. Louis Cardinals for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly, according to multiple reports.

The Cardinals recently acquired starting pitcher Justin Masterson from the Indians, trying to bolster their rotation for their playoff run. The Cardinals are currently 56-50, just one game out of the Wild Card and 2.5 games back in the National League Central. Lackey will presumably take Kelly’s spot in the rotation.

Lackey is 11-7 with a 3.60 ERA in 21 starts. When healthy, he is a reliable pitcher that could be a middle-of-the rotation pitcher. He will give the Cardinals a big boost in their rotation.

He is owed $15.25 million dollars for his final year in his contract. He does have a $500,000 club option attached to his deal, which probably earned him so much interest.

The Red Sox are attempting to restructure their struggling offense, acquiring Craig and Cespedes in two separate deals. They are dead last in the American League East posting a 48-60 record. They are batting .246 with just 412 runs, ranked 20 and 25 respectively.

Craig had a breakout year in 2013, batting .315 with 13 home runs an 97 RBI. However, in 2014 his numbers have dropped significantly. He is currently batting .237 with seven home runs and 44 RBI. He has the potential to bounce back and a new change of scenery may be the answer.

Kelly has appeared in seven games this year, posting a 4.37 ERA and a 6.43 K/9 rate. He bounced around from the bullpen and starting rotation in his first two years, ultimately ending up in the minors for the 2014 season. He was promoted when the Cardinals lost multiple pitchers to injury

 

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Charlie DiSturco

Charlie DiSturco is a 17-year-old high school student from New Jersey. He is currently the CEO and Founder of Insider Sports Network. He has written for many sports websites over the past year. He started off by launching his own site, RotoKings, and later began writing for BustaSports. Charlie also wrote for RantSports. Charlie is the editor-in-chief of SportsRanks and occasionally writes articles for that website. He also began writing for TheInscriber in December of 2012. He was also a contributor to FanSided's TheJetPress as well as RotoExperts. Follow him on twitter @disturcocharlie

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Photo Credit: Michael Dwyer - Associated Press