Pirates Trade Rumors: John Lackey

Boston Herald

This is a busy busy day for me.  I'm trying to keep track of all of the rumors and write my thoughts for you.  Today's first rumor is that John Lackey is drawing the Pirates' interest.

#Pirates also looking at John Lackey
— Danny Demilio (@MLBDemilio) July 31, 2014

Lackey is having a great year with a 7.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and an ERA of 3.60.  His xFIP is also 3.35 so that even stands to improve.  Lackey also has a good playoff record and could anchor a Pirates' rotation in a playoff run.

The thing that makes Lackey really interesting is that he has a team option for league minimum next year.  He obviously doesn't want to pitch for that so the team that acquires him could re-work his deal to maybe add an extra year and he could be something like an AJ Burnett here but with better stats.  But worst case, we could exercise that option.

The price for Lackey would be steep but if it's something centered around maybe Nick Kingham, I'd be interested.  More news coming as the rumors develop.

UPDATE: John Lackey has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.  I think the Pirates definitely need to respond now with a starting pitcher.