Lester, Lackey, Gomes shipped out

The Boston Red Sox today traded lefthanded pitcher Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes to the Oakland Athletics for left fielder Yoenis Céspedes.Hours later, the Red Sox reportedly made another major deal, sending John Lackey — who beat St. Louis in Game 6 of last year’s World Series — to the Cardinals. No deals have emerged yet on players the Red Sox would get in return.Lester, the Red Sox? ace the last two years, was Boston?s best pitcher in the post-season last year, winning two World Series games to help the Red Sox to an improbable world championship, their third in a decade. This season he is 10-7, but with an earned run average of 2.52.Though he expressed an interest in staying in Boston after his contract expired in October, he was dissatisfied with the team?s initial offer of $70 million spread over four years and decided to wait until he was a free agent before he resumed talks with the club.Gomes, who was a valuable pinch hitter for the team, hit a three-run homer in Game 4 of the World Series last October to lift the Red Sox to a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and propel them to their title. This season, in 209 plate appearances, he is hitting .234 with six homers.Lackey was a disappointment in the first two years of his Red Sox tenure, but after sitting out the entire 2012 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, he emerged last year as a reliable and durable starter, beating Justin Verlander in a 1-0 dual in Detroit during the ALCS and winning the deciding game of the World Series.Cespedes, 28, is in his third year with the A?s. He has played in 101 games and his hitting .256 with 17 homes and 67 runs batted in.The Red Sox outfielders ranked last in the American League in home runs.