Jon Lester is one of the top free agent pitchers on the market this offseason and teams like the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, NY Yankees, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals have all had reported interest in the All-Star, as he is coming off of one of his best seasons heading into 2015.
The Cubs have long been considered the favorites for Lester, as they have money to spend, a need for starting pitching and because of the connections to Theo Epstein. Buster Olney at ESPN reports that Lester has met with the Cubs and he also is meeting with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants just won the World Series and they lost free agent Pablo Sandoval to the Boston Red Sox and now could spend money on other positions.
The Giants have some need for starting pitching, as Matt Cain was injured for most of last season and Madison Bumgarner was the only true consistent option in the playoffs. Olney writes that the Cubs, Red Sox and Giants appear to be the best options for Lester and that his deal likely will set off a chain of events this offseason. Lester is one of the top starters on the market, but with Max Scherzer a couple years younger, the Tigers star is likely waiting to see how much Lester gets before signing with a team.
Lester will set the market for Scherzer as well as James Shields, while the Athletics have Jeff Samardzija and could trade him to one of the teams looking at Lester, Scherzer or Shields. Scherzer was offered a six-year, $144 million deal by the Tigers and declined that, so he is expecting more, while Lester was offered a long term deal worth around $120 million by the Red Sox, who have signed Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez this offseason already.
Last season Lester had one of his best years in the majors with a 16-11 record and a 2.46 ERA. Lester was sharp for the Red Sox and the Athletics after being traded midseason and while the A's lost in the wild card game, Lester was one of the reasons they made it there. Lester will be 31 when the season starts and while he has been in the bigs for a while, he has some very strong years ahead of him and he could be worth the money for a long contract.
The Cubs appear ready to make a jump this season and while it may not be to the playoffs right away, they appear to be on the right track. Adding Lester would be huge, as Theo Epstein has put together a ton of young talent, but most of that is on the offensive side of things. Adding a player like Lester would give the Cubs a rotation anchor and they have the money to sign him.
The Giants have shown in the past they are willing to spend and willing to make trades at the deadline, which is why it would not be a major surprise to see the team add Lester. Last season the Cubs won just 73 games and they are looking to make some major progress and adding Lester would be a step in that direction. The team added Joe Maddon at manager and they are expecting to be in the playoff mix over the next stretch of years.