Lackey’s 14-Win Season Earns Him an Extension

John Lackey will take the mound against the Mariners tonight with a new wardrobe accessory -- a security blanket in the form of the three-year, $17.01-million contract the Angel right-hander agreed to Monday. The deal includes a fourth-year option that could push the value of the package to more than $27 million.

“It’s definitely nice when the organization shows enough confidence in you to give you this kind of deal,” said Lackey, who has a 47-38 career record and 4.15 earned-run average. “I’m happy here.”

Lackey, who had a breakthrough 2006 season, going 14-5 with a 3.44 ERA and 199 strikeouts, had avoided arbitration by signing a $3.76-million deal for 2006, but under the new contract, Lackey, 27, will make $4.01 million this season, $3.01 million in salary and $1 million in a signing bonus.

Lackey’s salary will jump to $5.5 million in 2007 and $7 million in 2008, and the deal will buy out his remaining two years of arbitration. The option, covering Lackey’s first year of free agency, would be worth a minimum of $9 million and a maximum of $10.5 million and can be bought out by the Angels for $500,000.

“I’ve been talking with club officials about a multiyear contract for John since December,” said Steve Hilliard, Lackey’s agent. “We set a deadline for [Monday], and deadlines tend to get things done. Both sides put a lot of work into this deal, and I’m pleased to be able to get it done for John.”

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The last-minute snag that threatened to torpedo the Angels’ 10-year, $500-million television deal with FSN West was resolved with one key network concession.

“They will handle television, period,” Angel owner Arte Moreno said of FSN West. “Everything else, we control.”

Asked to define what “everything else” is, Moreno said, “Who knows?” Major League Baseball controls Internet rights, but Moreno wanted control over income generated from future technologies.

“A couple of years ago, there was no iPod, and now people are downloading onto iPods,” Moreno said. “For us to give away blanket rights for emerging technologies doesn’t make sense. We wanted to control that.”

The new deal, which calls for 150 games to be televised each year, will double the Angels’ average annual broadcast revenues, from about $25 million to $50 million.

“The economics of it gives us the capability to compete at a level we want to compete at,” Moreno said.

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The Angels are confident Jose Molina and Jeff Mathis will be more than capable replacements for catcher Bengie Molina, a two-time Gold Glove winner who hit .361 with runners in scoring position and two out last season before signing with Toronto.

Former Angel pitcher Jarrod Washburn, who signed a four-year, $37.5-million contract with the Mariners over the winter, isn’t so sure.

“They’re going to miss Bengie, no question,” said Washburn, who will pitch against the Angels on Wednesday. “Not only behind the plate, but he improved a ton at the plate. That’s a clutch bat they’ll be missing. Jose is a great catcher and will do a fine job, but any time you lose a guy like Bengie, he’s going to be missed.”

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Garret Anderson, who sat out three weeks of spring training because of a strained left arch, was in left field in Monday’s original lineup but was moved to designated hitter in order to give his foot more time to heal. Juan Rivera moved from DH to left.

“He’s making progress, and hopefully this will be a short-term thing,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “If we get him off his feet, it will get him to 100% quicker than if we drag this out longer.”