Beckett Resigns With the Sox

Beckett will remain in the fold.

The Boston Red Sox announced yesterday afternoon that Josh Beckett has agreed to a four-year, $68 million extension that will keep the righty in Beantown through the 2014 season. Here's how the deal looks: A $5 million signing bonus and a salary of $15.75 million for 2011-2014. This deal gets one potential in season distraction out of the way.

This is the second time Beckett has resigned with the Sox to avoid free agency; in the summer of 2006 Josh signed a four-year, $40 million deal. It appears that the Sox & Beckett have a unique connection that is rare in today's sports world. Beckett loves being a member of the team and we love having him here; the loyalty between parties is absolutely unquestioned.

In his time with the Sox, Josh has compiled a 65-34 record, a 4.08 ERA, and a World Series championship. Not too shabby, and he continues to get better.

Of course this deal will be compared to John Lackey's, as Lackey and Beckett have similar track records. Both deals are heavily front loaded; Lackey's salary this year is $18 million, but falls back to $15.25 million in years 2011-2014. Essentially the Sox will have both aces at fairly equal dollar amounts for the future.

The team's reluctance to guarantee a 5th year to Beckett is interesting, as it could have been a potential stumbling block in negotiations. However, Beckett didn't seem to mind and the Sox were happy to sign him on for another four seasons.

Comparatively, Lackey received a guaranteed fifth year because of his interest from other teams while he was on the open market. The Red Sox were very smart in the language of Lackey's contract, as they added an option that would keep the talented righty in town for an additional year at just $1 million should he miss extended time due to a previous injury to his throwing elbow.

A potential problem for the Sox: Yet another ace Jon Lester's current contract is set to expire in 2014 along with Beckett & Lackey. The Red Sox also only have Clay Buchholz under team control through 2014 as well. The team's starting rotation could look a lot different come the 2015 season and this will definitely be a situation to monitor down the road.

Theo Epstein's vision of a starting rotation is now essentially complete. Having the three horses and Buchholz locked up through 2014 looks good on paper. Next up on Theo's list of tasks is to get Victor Martinez signed to a contract extension. V-Mart enters the season as the clear cut best catcher available in next year's free agent crop after Joe Mauer signed his 8-year, $184 million extension with Minnesota during spring training. The Red Sox desperately need V-Mart's bat in the future to pair with their potent aces.