While the Angels’ baseball people are said to have moved on from the idea of keeping John Lackey around, owner Arte Moreno is not letting go:
What I said just an hour ago about owners making baseball decisions notwithstanding, the best argument for letting Lackey walk is financial, not competitive. Since Arte Moreno holds the purse strings in Anaheim, his interest in keeping Lackey trumps all. If he’s willing keep Lackey in the fold without sacrificing the team’s other needs -- like, say, a cleanup hitter -- more power to him.
Club officials had all but decided to part with Lackey during the team’s organizational meetings at the end of the regular season, according to multiple major-league sources.
But Moreno, after watching Lackey pitch well in his three postseason starts against the Red Sox and Yankees, decided that the Angels should renew their efforts to sign him, the sources said.