John Lackey sheds no tears

ST. LOUIS There was no pass-the-hanky moment, no catch in the voice, no its getting dusty in here moment with John Lackey yesterday.

In fact, after spending a few hot and sticky and uncomfortable minutes with Lackey in the Cardinals home dugout, it sure felt as if he had not only turned the page on his 412-year Red Sox career about three seconds after the trade went down last Thursday, but that he had already begun reaching to turn that page well before the trade.

Lackey paused for two seconds and looked out into the mid-summer haze when asked if he was hoping to get traded.

Im not going to go that far, he finally said. I wasnt surprised.

Lackey was on guard for the interaction with a group of media comprised mainly of Bostonians, eager to get Lackeys take on the trade. He had not taken out an ad in any newspapers to express his thoughts and feelings (if any), and nobody who had contact with his shallow New England roots had sought out his opinion since last Thursday.

While former rotation mate Jon Lesters name was in trade talks for what felt like weeks if not months, Lackeys name did not surface until three or four days before the big day. Besides his strong performance last year and so far this season, Lackey had the added bonus of costing only $500,000 next season. That pittance had much to do with Lackeys high trade value.

Before the Cardinals would do the deal, however, they needed assurance from Lackey that he would indeed play for that amount and not just walk away.

Lackey gave them his word.

But when asked if he would have given the same word to the Red Sox, Lackey got squirrelly about the topic.

I dont know about that honestly. I didnt get that far ahead to think about it at that point, Lackey said.

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John Lackey sheds no tears