According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Red Sox have offered starting pitcher Josh Beckett a 4-year deal worth roughly $16.5M annually. It's rumored the the total value of the deal will be worth between $65–70M. Beckett is in the last year of a 3-year, $30M deal.
Although Josh Beckett can no longer be considered the true Ace of the staff—that title belongs to Jon Lester—his peripherals suggest a consistency that belies his year-to-year ERA. 2009 saw Beckett post 20 Quality Starts with 199 Ks over 212.2 innings. Here are some numbers from at his past three seasons:
2007 – (200.2 IP) 8.70 K/9 1.79 BB/9 3.27 ERA 3.08 FIP 3.43 xFIP 6.5 WAR
2008 – (174.1 IP) 8.88 K/9 1.76 BB/9 4.03 ERA 3.24 FIP 3.24 xFIP 5.0 WAR
2009 – (212.1 IP) 8.43 K/9 2.42 BB/9 3.86 ERA 3.63 FIP 3.35 xFIP 5.3 WAR
As OverTheMonster member Drugs Delaney points out, only CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, and Josh Beckett have been 5.0+ WAR pitchers in each of the last three seasons. It's virtually impossible to find that caliber of pitcher on the free market, and costs an organization's best prospects via a trade. This looks like a wise investment for the cash-rich Red Sox. (For more on the John Lackey vs. Josh Beckett debate, click here.)