Sox eye Lackey

Six weeks ago, John Lackey hastened the Red Sox along the short road to winter vacation with a dominating victory in Game 1 of the AL Division Series for the Los Angeles Angels. Now, he may be one of their first targets in free agency. According to a major league source, the Sox met with the right-hander's agent at the GM meetings earlier this week in Chicago. The Sox expressed preliminary interest in the consensus top starter on the market. Although the club currently has its entire rotation under contract - Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield - last season proved there's no such thing as too much pitching. The RedSox burned through 11 starters and watched high-profile projects Brad Penny and John Smoltz flame out, along with the injured Matsuzaka and Wakefield. It's too early to gauge exactly how much interest the Sox have in Lackey, who went 11-8 with a 3.83 ERA for the Angels last season. They remain in the early stages of planning and fact-gathering and are expected to stay in contact with Lackey's representatives in the coming weeks. Although early estimates had Lackey commanding as much as $100 million over five years in free agency, those expectations already have been dialed back a notch. The 31-year-old right-hander is not considered on par with the class of the market last offseason, left-hander CC Sabathia, who signed a $161 million, seven-year contract with the Yankees. He even may be just a hair below A.J. Burnett, with whom he shares virtually identical career stats. The Yanks gave Burnett a five-year, $82.5 million deal last winter. Although there have been questions about Burnett's toughness, no such concerns exist about Lackey, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound Texan with a mean streak. Intense on the mound, Lackey has a rich history with the Red Sox . He's just 1-2 against them in the postseason despite a 2.67 ERA in four starts. He shut out the Sox for 7 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the ALDS last month, atoning for a pair of tough-luck losses against Lester in the 2008 Division Series. That series ended with Lackey taking a no-decision in Game 4. Afterward, he blasted the Red Sox , calling them an inferior team, and said he wanted to ``throw somebody through a window.'' ``We lost to a team that's not better than us,'' he said. ``We are a better team than they are. . . . We shouldn't have given up anything.'' With the Yankees and Mets also expected to be in the running for Lackey, the Sox could find themselves in a similar situation - albeit on a smaller scale - as they were last offseason, when they took the lead in the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes only to see the first baseman land in pinstripes. Then there's the issue of contract length. It likely will take a five-year deal to land Lackey, but he has missed the beginning of two straight seasons with arm trouble, and the Red Sox are leery of giving such a long deal to a pitcher in his 30s. Add the fact that Beckett, who turns 30 in May, is entering the final year of his contract, and it's hard to picture the Red Sox breaking the bank for Lackey this year and then Beckett next. That's getting well ahead of the game, however. For now, the Red Sox are at least kicking the tires. Sox notes Eight Red Sox are eligible for arbitration - pitchers Jonathan Papelbon, Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and Fernando Cabrera, outfielders Jeremy Hermida and Brian Anderson and first baseman Casey Kotchman. The Red Sox have until Dec. 1 to offer arbitration and until Dec. 12 to offer contracts.