John Lackey is a good pitcher, despite the histrionics. He will be a free agent in the off-season, and he hails from the great state of Texas. Any chance he ends up as an Astro?
You know the drill... the chance depends on a little bit of ego stroking of the owner, allowing him to think he's doing some serious horse trading, seeking home town discounts and all. Even the Carlos Lee deal was a discount from what the market was willing to pay him (see: Francisco, San). If Lackey has any interest whatsoever in coming here it is because he is willing to negotiate, and nothing else will do.
BTW - I know of absolutely no interest in Lackey's part to come to Houston other than if they want to bid for his services, they'll have to pay. Kent, Pettitte, Clemens and Lee all came here because they wanted to come here and their contracts reflected the give and take that is needed with Drayton McLane. You see, Tal Smith is the sounding board for McLane in case he needs consul on market value. So if Lackey is worth 21 million a year (say five years) in the open market and McLane pays 18 million per year, four years, then he'll think he made a sweet deal... because Smith told him what the real market cost was. Pam is there to tell McLane what the marketable cost will be with a player, such as she did when McLane went after Beltran.
