The Jon Lester free agent rumors are heating up at the winter meetings and it's likely that the pitchers signs this week, as teams like the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves and NY Yankees could be interested in making a move and Lester is likely the first domino to fall among Max Scherzer and James Shields in free agency.
According to Hardball Talk, Lester is likely to sign this week and coming into the winter meetings, the Cubs and the Giants appear to be the front runners for his services. Lester is expected to get a six year deal this offseason in the range of $130 million or more and both the Red Sox and Dodgers could be potential options for the pitcher along with Chicago and San Francisco. Lester has also met with the Braves, but they are not expected to be a major contender for his services.
Lester is coming off of one of his best seasons and he will be just 31 years old next season and has multiple offers on the table. The Cubs and the Red Sox have made offers, while Boston owner John Henry flew in to Atlanta to meet with Lester at his home to pitch him on signing back with the Red Sox. Boston of course traded Lester during the season to the A's after not being able to come to a contract extension and now he could sign back with the team.
Lester had a very strong season last year and now he is the top target on the market, as Scherzer and Shields are likely waiting to see what price he comes in at. Lester will set the market for those players, as Scherzer is younger and is expected to get the biggest deal of the three. The Dodgers reportedly will be a late option to target Lester or Scherzer, as they may look at trading Zack Greinke while signing one of those names. Hardball Talk reported last week that with Greinke's contract option for an opt out coming up, they could look at trading him to free up space to sign another pitcher long term.
CBS Sports reports that Lester has received numerous offers and that he has been offered between $130-140 million in those deals. The Cubs have money to spend and they are motivated, as they have a ton of young talent, but most of that is on the offensive side of things. The Giants have shown that they are not afraid to spend money and they could make a move after dealing with up and down starting pitching last season. Madison Bumgarner was brilliant, but an injury to Matt Cain showed off the depth issues the team had in the rotation.
Lester met with the Giants ahead of the winter meetings and while the Cubs have the Theo Epstein connection, the Red sox are also considered a strong option. Lester of course was with the Red Sox before being traded to the Athletics for Yoenis Cespedes and now he could follow Jason Hammel's direction and sign back with his original team after being traded. Lester went 16-11 last season and had a 2.46 ERA with over 200 strikeouts in more than 200 innings of work.
