Chicago Cubs fans must be thrilled about having a new team president that was the mastermind of two Boston Red Sox World Series titles. It’s going to be great! Wait ’til you see who you get now!

Well, while Theo Epstein did some great things for the Red Sox, he hasn’t been stellar as of late. This past offseason, he signed a Carl Crawford, a player the owner never wanted, to a seven-year, $142 million contract. That’s a lot of money for .255 and 11 HR’s. And Epstein’s idea of adding pitching help at the trade deadline was oft-injured, five-innings-per-start Erik Bedard.

But, one of his worst moves came in 2009 and now it looks even worse. Not only is John Lackey’s five-year, $82.5 million contract one of the worst in all of sports, he now won’t be even able to earn any of that money for at least a year or so.

Lackey is undergoing Tommy John surgery.

On one hand, you can say that this makes the 33-year old an even bigger bust as a free agent. But on the other, you can say that it will keep his 5.26 ERA and 1.50 WHIP since signing the deal on the bench.

Great ready, Cubs fans! You thought the Alfonso Soriano deal was bad? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

There was a report recently that accused players for the Boston Red Sox of drinking beer, eating fried chicken and playing video games in the clubhouse during games. Pitcher Jon Lester sort of admitted to that on Monday, saying that he drank “ninth inning rally beer.”

We translate that to mean that yes this stuff was going on, but I’m going to make it sound like it wasn’t too bad. Just our interpretation.

But, now the Red Sox have released a statement with quotes from some of the accused players, the former manager and the president.

JON LESTER: “The accusation that we were drinking in the dugout during games is completely false. Anonymous sources are continuing to provide exaggerated and, in this case, inaccurate information to the media.

JOSH BECKETT: “I cannot let this allegation go without response; enough is enough. I admit that I made mistakes along the way this season, but this has gone too far. To say that we drank in the dugout during the game is not true.”

JOHN LACKEY: “There are things that went on this season that shouldn’t have happened, but this latest rumor is not true, and I felt that it was important to try to stop this from going any further.”

TERRY FRANCONA: “In 32 years of professional baseball, I have never seen someone drinking beer in the dugout.”

PRESIDENT/CEO LARRY LUCCHINO ON BEHALF OF THE BOSTON RED SOX: “Tonight our organization has heard directly from Jon, Josh, John, and former manager Terry Francona. Each has assured us that the allegation that surfaced today about drinking in the dugout during games in 2011 is false, and we accept their statements as honest and factual.

“As we continue our internal examination to fully understand what went wrong in September, 2011, we appreciate these strong and clear statements from our players.

“It is time to look forward and move forward, rather than allow a reckless, unsubstantiated accusation from ‘anonymous sources’ to mislead the public.”

See? It never happened. They said so!

Two sources close to Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett tell ESPN’s Buster Olney that a deal could be completed between Beckett and the Sox in the next week or so. According to one source, Beckett has a four-year deal on the table that’s believed to be in the neighborhood of what John Lackey got from the club ($16.5 million per year for five years).

The sources say the total package could be in the $65 million to $70 million range. We would think it would have to be. We couldn’t see Beckett taking significantly less than Lackey. No way.

However, a source told ESPNBoston.com recently that the Red Sox just wouldn’t go for the fifth year like they did with Lackey. But Beckett definitely deserves a new deal, the 30-year old is coming off of a 17-win season. And wins are the only stat that counts for baseball pitchers. They tell you everything you need to know.

According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated says that the Boston Red Sox have signed John Lackey to a five-year, $85 million deal.

“lackey a great move for #redsox. sources say it’s about $85 mil for 5. good job by @ed_price at AOL Fanhouse,” he tweets.

This will leave the Anaheim Angels scrambling to find a replacement and we aren’t sure what their options are.

A source tells MLBlogs.com that the Washington Nationals are interested in the services of free-agent John Lackey. Supposedly, they would be competing with the Angels, Red Sox, Yankees and Mets…all teams with more money than them.

We aren’t sure what kind of dough Washington would have to throw at Lackey in order for him to want to play for a loser that no one comes to watch, but we would think it would have to be significantly more than a Yanks or Red Sox offer.

You ever see how pissed off Lackey gets when something goes wrong? Yeah, he’s a baby. A baby that wants to win. So one would have to think that all money being equal (which might not be possible anyway), that Lackey would choose to play for someone that has a chance to make the playoffs.

Photo Caption: “Does my turkey neck bother you? It should.”

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Southern California of the United States of America manager Mike Scioscia said that he would consider starting loudmouth John Lackey in Game 7 on three days rest.

“If there is an opportunity to look at bringing a guy like John back, it’s something we would certainly consider,” Scioscia said. “We have talked about a lot of different scenarios. I think we’re going to let this thing unfold a little bit and see how the weekend goes.”

It doesn’t mean it’s certain, but you know Lackey would be up for it if given the chance. He pitched Game 7 of the 2002 World Series on three days rest as a rookie and the Angels won it all.

Photo Caption: Dick.

Lackey threw a fit the other night when he was pulled with two outs and the bases loaded. He could be seen saying to Scioscia, ‘”this is mine! Are you shitting me? This is mine!” He then walked into the tunnel when the bullpen promptly gave up several blasts and let the Yankees take the lead. The Angels came back to win anyway, so who cares?

According to Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com, Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson plans to become a free agent at the end of this season (his season is done already) if the Braves don’t blow him away with an offer.

He is scheduled to make $12 million in 2010 with a mutual option for the year. If he declines, he’ll be free to negotiate with any other team. John Lackey is expected to be the only other top-flight starter available this offseason, so the 34-year old Hudson could make some decent money on the open market.