Boston Red Sox starting pitcher John Lackey will undergo Tommy John surgery, meaning that he will miss the 2012 season.
Daisuke Matsuzaka underwent the surgery earlier this season, as well, which means that two-fifths of the team's 2011 starting rotation will be on the shelf for all of next year, at a combined cost of about $26 million (or about $36 million, if you want to amortize the posting price the Red Sox paid for the rights to Matsuzaka).
That means Boston is looking at Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and (assuming he's healthy) Clay Buchholz for the 2012 rotation, along with some unknowns. This could impact the C.J. Wilson free agency hunt, as Boston could feel like they need to go out and get someone this offseason to join the rotation, and Wilson is one of the top three options on the free agent market, along with C.C. Sabathia and Yu Darvish.
Interestingly, there's a clause in Lackey's contract which provides that, if he were to go under the knife for T-J surgery, they get the right to bring him back in 2015 at the league minimum, so if Lackey bounces back in 2013 and 2014, this could potentially cost him a significant amount of money.
No word yet if video games and fried chicken are being blamed for the injury.