Lester: Stop Believing What You Read on Twitter.

[MartyBarrettMVP]

 

Miller and Lester are different for a lot of reasons, but I think it is informative that the Sox decided that 4 years was just too much for Miller.  They are not afraid to stop when the money/years gets unreasonable, even if that means a guy like Miller goes to the MFY.  The way things are headed with Lester, I suspect the same thing may (and should, frankly) happen.

Apparently not true:
 

Red Sox offered 4 years



http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2014/12/yankees_strike_back_andrew_mil.html#incart_social_feature

 

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I think sometimes people put a bit too much stock in the cost of a win. Sure, it's a decent barometer, but there are other things to consider...
 
If you're paying big money for a Kershaw, Hernandez or a Lester, I think a good chunk of that value is going to typically be realized through postseason success. (While a rotation of say McCarthy/Latos/Buchholz/Kelly/RDLR might get us into the postseason thanks to our offense, how do you feel about that rotation going up against Price/Sanchez/Verlander, Kershaw/Greinke/Ryu, etc...?)
 
What's the value of being able to throw a Jon Lester out there in game 1, or a game 7? The value of starting pitching is certainly magnified in the postseason in comparison to one offensive player (unless that player is David Ortiz, of course).
 
And I think if you're the Boston Red Sox (or any team spending well into nine figures per year), you need to build your team under the assumption it's going to make the playoffs.
 
As an aside on WAR - while I think it is overall a good indicator of team success, it should be noted that Giancarlo Stanton's monster 2014 was worth less wins than Jonathan Lucroy's 2014. It was about a win better than Shane Victorino's 2013 (which according to WAR was worth about $35,000,000...)
 
Jon Lester's 2014 was worth around $30,000,000. Jonny Cueto's season was worth around $42,000,000. Kershaw? About $55,000,000.
 
Um, yeah... 

 

[EllisTheRimMan]

 
 

That could very well be the case for what the front office is thinking.. But, unless I am mistaken, that is not the argument dominating this thread. This thread says it's the money years out that is the problem. And, in turn, I am saying that while it may be a problem, it will also become "the market," if Lester, then Scherzer get it.  Top notch starting pitchers will then expect to be able to make $25 million at age 37, even if they are negotiating for a contract the begins at age 30.
 
In the pinned WAR thread, Rev confidently suggests WAR is now worth more than $5 million per because it's an equation. Of course, that numerator (I think) of that equation needs to be adjusted as new contracts are signed -- including whatever Lester and Scherzer sign for. So with inflation and baseball inflation, a win will surely be worth more money in a few years, because salaries always go up. "Lester isn't worth it," is certainly a defendable position. "No one is worth it" or more appropriately "we can't have any confidence a 37-year old will be worth it in five years" ignores that once someone gets it, a few rough comparables the next year will certainly get it, meaning many more will be "worth it." 
 
Now that I think about (and have edited this thing three times), I am saying the Red Sox need to consider cost per WAR inflation when making their offer, and SoSH should include it in the debate. What's the rate of inflation? What will a win be worth in 2019?

 

 
I don't think we're disagreeing, but I do think you're not getting my points.  There is a thing called opportunity cost.  That is to say that $20-25 MM spent on Lester who may be worth $15 MM/year going forward on average is $20-25 MM not able to be spent on Pitcher X in 2015/2016 that may give you a much better return on investment.  It's been said upthread many times.  The Sox need to set a price and then not go much higher beyond that in any negotiation scenario.  Otherwise, we are just the MFY north. 
 
All that said, JH can go far beyond the LT given his personal wealth and sign Lester, Scherzer and Shields and deal for Hammels and spend $500-600 MM over 6-7 years (Monopoly money and all that) for only his top 4 pitchers.  However, we have seen even with the MFY that there are budgetary economics at play and for many reasons these must be respected.  MLB is a monopoly after all so the other owners have an equal stake in the rate of salary escalation.  Therefore using simple Math and WAR to make one's case breaks down often, especially at the extremes.. . 

 

[Sampo Gida]

Hard to say. After stagnating through much of the 2000s, WAR/$ (and overall spending) has been soaring on the back of a ton of local TV money. It's probably unlikely to continue at quite this level, but $8m or $9m by 2019 is certainly possible.
 
The issue isn't being worth it at 36 or 37 though. I don't think teams actually expect the player to be worth the contract in each year; the idea behind these FA deals is to capture enough surplus value at the start to even out the eventual overpay.

 
From 2009-2011 recesion years it slowed to about 1.5% per year.  For almost all the rest of the century, its been about 5-6% on average with the greatest growth early on, with double digit growth in 2000-2001. Last 3 years its been about 4-6%.   Revenue growth has outpaced payroll inflation so the players share has dropped in this century.
 
I am sure payroll inflation factors into the equation on contracts as much as player WAR deflation does, and I am equally sure the numbers agents and owners use for both differ.
 
Offtopic but I almost wonder if everyone would not be better off paying players by an equation both MLBPA and MLB agree starting from year 1, which allow the players an agreed upon percentage of the revenue, . Players can choose where to go after 6 years, but the pay is locked in by equation,  perhaps a progressive one by service time.  Bad contracts don't seem to help anyone but the few players who get them to the detriment of the majority of players.

 

[Sprowl]

 So then, ivanvamp has already started the equation:

 

It just depends on the final salary, and how predicted value of WAR relates to the actuals. 2020 isn't all that bad if the market prices things at $10 million/win.

 
Lurker JasonVaritekIsMyCaptain sent this PM a few days ago regarding the rising cost of WAR:
 

I'm a long time lurker (since 2001 and before the great server loss) who has finally felt the need to post because a WAR projection is being used incorrectly with regularity on the main board. I would post myself, but obviously don't have the post-counts.

Basically, everyone assumes that 1.0 WAR will continue to be valued at $9 million in future years of contracts. However, as the average/median contract in the league increases, the $/WAR will continue to increase beyond $9 million. Instead, you need to discount the future costs of contract years into present dollars, or inflate the $/WAR figure used for each year of the contract (MLB salaries have tended to increase between 3.8 - 5.4% annually)

This article explains my point nicely: http://www.fangraphs...014-off-season/

In particular this should affect how we are discussing the Lester Contract (see ivanvamp's post on this page: http://sonsofsamhorn...rom-cubs/page-3). The expected price of WAR will continue to increase and so the "overpay" in years 5, 6 (and maybe 7) of Lester's expected contract are not as steep as we currently project them.

 

[BarrettsHiddenBall]

 
From 2009-2011 recesion years it slowed to about 1.5% per year.  For almost all the rest of the century, its been about 5-6% on average with the greatest growth early on, with double digit growth in 2000-2001. Last 3 years its been about 4-6%.   Revenue growth has outpaced payroll inflation so the players share has dropped in this century.
 
I am sure payroll inflation factors into the equation on contracts as much as player WAR deflation does, and I am equally sure the numbers agents and owners use for both differ.
 
Offtopic but I almost wonder if everyone would not be better off paying players by an equation both MLBPA and MLB agree starting from year 1, which allow the players an agreed upon percentage of the revenue, . Players can choose where to go after 6 years, but the pay is locked in by equation,  perhaps a progressive one by service time.  Bad contracts don't seem to help anyone but the few players who get them to the detriment of the majority of players.

Yeah -- 5% growth gets you to a bit above $8m by 2020. But over the last 3 years payroll has increased by over 7% on average, mostly in the past year. That's probably not going to continue.

 

[iayork]

From 2009-2011 recesion years it slowed to about 1.5% per year.  For almost all the rest of the century, its been about 5-6% on average with the greatest growth early on, with double digit growth in 2000-2001. Last 3 years its been about 4-6%.   Revenue growth has outpaced payroll inflation so the players share has dropped in this century.


I've posted this before, but just to support this:
 
Salaries for pitcher:

Spoiler

[

Salaries for batters:

Spoiler

 

[joe dokes]

 
An issue for who?
 
For Lester, probably not.
 
For teams not getting Lester, sort of.
 
For teams with arms to trade, absolutely they lose leverage as well as a feeding frenzy.
 
For second tier FAs, absolutely for the same reason.
 
Schrezer is the only one really not affected by Lester holding out longer.

 
I think I was referring to the Red Sox mostly. Not picking on you, I'm just reacting generally to the whole, "If it doen't happen this week/today/right now/yesterday then the Sox should cut bait/offer ultimatums" meme that seems to be popping up. Or the thouight that the amount of time he's taking actually means anything. Obviously, it means he hasn't signed with Boston yet, but that's about it.
 
. Since Lester appears to be the first domino, it appears they aren't missing out on other opportunities while Lester weighs the offers. That appears to be a major concern here -- that the baseball world will pass the Sox by while Lester dicks around. Or that the Sox are somehow incapable of of having talks with several other teams about several other things while Lester ponders.   Its not like its a secret what's going on.  The Sox have 2 things that benefit other teams -- trade chips and money to take on contracts. They will still have plenty of both regardless of what Lester does or when within reason, of course.
 
Teams with Lester-like arms to trade lose some leverage once he signs.One team will be out of it. OTOH-- There's a lot of noise out there that suggests that the Sox, at least, might sign Lester AND make a trade.  I'm not sure 2nd-tier FA's will lose much leverage. There's is a much broader market, and they will also benefit from Lester setting the market.
 
As for that NYPost story---- anything that compares Gilbert/James to Lester's departure is toilet paper. Gilbert acted like a prick; he practically begged Clevelanders to burn their James jerseys.  Frenemies? Is this high school. They aren't friends or enemies. They;re two sides talking about a 130-150 million dollars.
"Doesn't trust?"  The Sox already made a pretty serious offer. How exactly does "doesn't trust" manifest itself? He wants to get paid in cash up front? He thinks the Sox are going to trade all their good players away once Lester signs?
 
At least the entire speculative psychobabble waterfront is covered.  So if Lester signs elsewhere, someone will be able to say "See I was right" and turn player pabulum words like "respect" "comfort" and "best for my family" into support for whatever bricks they want to throw at whomever they want to throw them. 

 

[67WasBest]

 

• Andrew Friedman doesn’t mind “noise” about his team’s intentions, and Heyman suggests that the lack of certainty about the Dodgers’ winter plans could be of some use to the team.  For instance, one rival executive thinks the Dodgers’ reported interest in Jon Lester could be a ploy to drive the left-hander’s price up and potentially keep him away from the Giants.  Another rival exec says Lester “really isn’t an L.A. guy” and wouldn’t be prone to sign with a team only due to the money.

MLBTradeRumors

 

[MartyBarrettMVP]

Heyman, FWIW:
 

 
as of yest. heard lester had multiple bids in 130-140M range. favored red sox seen as maybe a bit lower. bids may rise tho.

 
https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/541320743318208512

 

[soxhop411]

According to multiple major league sources, Red Sox principal owner John Henry flew to the Atlanta area Friday to personally visit with free agent pitcher Jon Lester.

With Lester on the cusp of making a decision as to where he might sign, Henry´s visit was thought to be a chance for the owner to re-emphasize the Red Sox´ interest in signing the lefty. It was the second time Henry has met with Lester at the pitcher´s home during the free agent process, although the previous get-together was with other members of Sox´ownership.

It is believed that while a decision is expected from Lester at some point during the upcoming winter meetings, negotiations with multiple teams (Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, Braves) remain fluid.

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/12/06/sources-john-henry-makes-trip-to-visit-jon-lester/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[mr_smith02]

According to multiple major league sources, Red Sox principal owner John Henry flew to the Atlanta area Friday to personally visit with free agent pitcher Jon Lester.
With Lester on the cusp of making a decision as to where he might sign, Henry´s visit was thought to be a chance for the owner to re-emphasize the Red Sox´ interest in signing the lefty. It was the second time Henry has met with Lester at the pitcher´s home during the free agent process, although the previous get-together was with other members of Sox´ownership.
http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/12/06/sources-john-henry-makes-trip-to-visit-jon-lester/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Maybe this meeting will move them from frenemies to besties!

In all seriousness, it would be nice to know that more key players from the Sox are working to woo Lester behind the scenes...can't hurt.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

A personal visit by Henry was so key in the Teixeira negotiations...this thing is a lock.

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

I view the Henry visit as desperation, not hope. Not a good thing. 

 

[jasvlm]

Henry making the trip only means something if a decision is imminent.  It would appear that at least the Sox believe that Lester is close to a decision, or Henry wouldn't have made the journey down there.  Lester already knows what he'll do and what he wants to do.  His agent is just trying to maximize the contract he'll get, which is the only job he has to do here.  Lester wants to come back, and if the money is close, he'll do so.

 

[Hoplite]

I'm sure that Tex was awed by the JH visit. Then
The lovely Ms Tex said, "if you ever want to see me naked again, sign with the NYY."
We all know how that turns out.

 
I'd say it turned out great.

 

[E5 Yaz]

I go back to JWH's hugging of Lester as he was about to drive away from the park, and how Lester thought that -- given the timing -- it was a little odd. We're left to speculate, but I do think this speaks to this meeting being the last best effort for the Sox ... and that, perhaps, JWH wasn't fully behind the idea of the trade in the first place, but went along with the strategy.

 

[foulkehampshire]

 
I'd say it turned out great.

Tex has not aged well. I'd say we dodged a bullet there.

 

[Hoplite]

Tex has not aged well. I'd say we dodged a bullet there.

 
Not to mention it tangentally steared us toward trading for Adrian Gonzalez, who we then used to dump Crawford and Beckett, whose former salaries we then used to sign Napoli, Victorino, etc. and win a World Series.

 

[Pozo the Clown]

I view the Henry visit as desperation, not hope. Not a good thing. 

 
I don't view it as a desperation move, at all.  It's been awhile since the Sox contingent met with Lester.  In the interim, Jon's been wooed by others.  I see the Henry visit as a continued show of strong and sincere interest and an opportunity to reiterate the selling points on coming back to Boston, including the opportunity to surpass Clemens and Cy Young as the Sox all-time wins leaders.  
 
Make sure what the Sox have to offer is fresh in Jon's mind.  Solid move by JH. 

 

[soxhop411]

“@pgammo: @bradfo @alexspeier totally different from Harrington-Houston trip for Clemens. Complete sincerity”

 

[E5 Yaz]

Gammons on the endgame

 

It all plays out, and what is most important is what the pitching staff is on August 1, not Christmas morning. If the Dodgers do $160-something million and Lester hears from Beckett about his good L.A. experience and the idea of pitching with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke is appealing, there shouldn’t be anyone who’d blame him.
Then again, if he puts aside the March negotiations, looks at them as the opening to double that money, recalls that he would go back to a manager with whom he’s won two World Series and always had his back, no one at Dodger Stadium would begrudge the effort they put in to get him.

 
 
http://www.gammonsdaily.com/peter-gammons-miller-heads-to-the-bronx-will-lester-return-to-boston/
 
And, yes, half the piece is about Miller

 

[RedOctober3829]

Gammons on the endgame
 
 
 
http://www.gammonsdaily.com/peter-gammons-miller-heads-to-the-bronx-will-lester-return-to-boston/
 
And, yes, half the piece is about Miller

So, he's saying he can totally see him going to LA but if not then totally is going to the Red Sox.  That is just a whole lot of nothing from Peter, but it's the norm these days.

 

[E5 Yaz]

So, he's saying he can totally see him going to LA but if not then totally is going to the Red Sox.  That is just a whole lot of nothing from Peter, but it's the norm these days.

 
It's a well-written piece, an overview, putting this in perspective.

 

[jimbobim]

Like this buried line 
 
The owners have opened the credit line, the trades for Yoenis Cespedesand others have opened the trade possibilities, but how Cherington pieces together the 15-18 pitchers necessary to survive a season is a puzzle for which he accepts responsibility.

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
It's a well-written piece, an overview, putting this in perspective.

Ooops, yes I agree with you.  I was basing that comment on the blurb you quoted.  He's right about the later years.  If the price gets too rich, Cherington needs to get out.

 

[Jnai]

I mean, Henry strikes me as an exceptionally good owner. He's been willing to open up the checkbook, he's managed Fenway really well, the team has been really successful, and he seems like he's always been really good about delegating baseball stuff to the baseball people. Maybe they told him he should go and seal the deal here. They just seem like two totally different people.

 

[Granite Sox]

Would we rather Lucchino went?

No (I know you were kidding).

Henry has repeated several times over the years that he leaves the contracts "to the General Manager".

Except... Everyone thinks Lucchino pulls the strings on the "big" deals, and I imagine that the Levinsons and Lester don't particularly trust Lucky to do the right thing for their client in this situation.

My guess is that the Henry-Lester visit is intended for Henry to have a face-to-face dialogue about the Sox' interest in Lester juxtaposed against Henry's notorious comments re contracts for players > 30. It's also a chance to provide whatever sincere personal assurances Henry can provide without the specter of Lucchino present. And (massive speculation here), I bet they are discussing no-trade (or similar) clauses so that Lester can feel that the Sox will confirm their affection for him by signing him and then not turning around and trading him in two years when/if conditions change.

 

[Snoop Soxy Dogg]

I understand why Henry is going; the owner himself going to try to close the deal. If Lester comes back, Henry's visit may have been a tipping point. If Lester signs elsewhere, not much to complain about on the Sox here. Will Ricketts visit? How about the Dodgers' owner? The Giants'?
 
Stepping back a minute, Baseball is really another universe. A guy is getting his arse kissed all around for the privilege of being given $150m. Just ridiculous.
 
Also, Lester can just say, "you're letting the Cubs and Dodgers outbid you, you must not love me all that much"..

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

I understand why Henry is going; the owner himself going to try to close the deal. If Lester comes back, Henry's visit may have been a tipping point. If Lester signs elsewhere, not much to complain about on the Sox here. Will Ricketts visit? How about the Dodgers' owner? The Giants'?
 

Ricketts and the other owners don't have a long personal history with Lester.  Henry isn't just any owner trying to close the deal.
 
It may or may not work, but regardless, I think it's the right move.

 

[curly2]

Henry isn't there to offer a seventh year or more money. Cherington could do that. Henry can promise team support for the NVRQT foundation through partnerships, contributions, free ad space at Fenway, etc.
 
This could work for Lester in terms of cementing his legacy in Boston and helping children with cancer, and for Henry it's a way to sweeten the pot without adding more salary that would count toward luxury tax and affect the asking price of future free agents.

 

[Reverend]

If anyone doesn't get this and wants to discuss it, please first familiarize yourself with Henry and Lester's relationship and how they dealt with the cancer diagnosis; among other things, Henry sent his personal jet for Lester's family and pulled some strings at MGH, if I recall correctly. I know the whole rhetorical question conjecture game is fun, but this is one of those cases where the rhetorical questions have answers and the notion that Henry has no role to play here is fundamentally misinformed and wrong.
 
So knock off the game threading, ok? It assumes something is dumb which actually makes sense if you bother to look it up. (Posts moved to Worst to First game thread.)

 

[DJnVa]

I view the Henry visit as desperation, not hope. Not a good thing. 

 
Can you tell us why? Otherwise, this isn't needed.

 

[geoduck no quahog]

I don't know if this has been addressed, but future value WAR should also consider how many innings a pitcher pitches. A 200-inning starter should be able to claim more than his own value because that guy gives the bullpen and the manager some easy decisions during the course of a season. For me, that's the added value of a #1. A manager can empty his pen to cover for the 6-inning guy who's designated #5 knowing that he may only need the closer for the next game. Two workhorses spread a couple of days apart can improve that even more.
 
Now, for how many more years can a Lester, Shields, Price, Hernandez, Kluber, Scherzer, Gray, Weaver, etc. throw 200+ innings? That's for the baseball experts to figure out.

 

[dcmissle]

I mean, Henry strikes me as an exceptionally good owner. He's been willing to open up the checkbook, he's managed Fenway really well, the team has been really successful, and he seems like he's always been really good about delegating baseball stuff to the baseball people. Maybe they told him he should go and seal the deal here. They just seem like two totally different people.

He is tremendous in my book, and I hope he keeps this team for a long, long time.

There are altruistic and practical reasons for going. The former have been explained.

As for the practical, it is useful to go the extra mile considering the team made a mess of this in the spring, Ortiz among others saying sign him. And oh yeah, this comes on the heels of Miller > Yankees.

 

[SumnerH]

I don't know if this has been addressed, but future value WAR should also consider how many innings a pitcher pitches. 

 
WAR is cumulative.  Lackey's stat line was slightly better than Lester's in 2013, but Lester had higher WAR because he pitched more innings.  Pedro's 1999 is only .5 WAR higher than Randy Johnson's; Pedro dominated statistically, but in 213.1 IP to Randy's 271.2(!!), so Randy made back a lot of ground.

 

[Nomo's NoNo]

I view the Henry visit as desperation, not hope. Not a good thing. 

Did Henry visit Ellsbury?  

I think I can infer that the Red Sox are serious about signing him. believe that there is at least a good chance that they can, and hope this visit helps towards that ernd.

In other words, a good thing.

 

[staz]

Pure speculation, but I don't think a CEO makes a trip like that unless the Sox are still very much in the hunt. Ben's latest offer might be at his maximum limit, so Henry just wants to know what is going to take to get it done.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Pure speculation, but I don't think a CEO makes a trip like that unless the Sox are still very much in the hunt. Ben's latest offer might be at his maximum limit, so Henry just wants to know what is going to take to get it done.

 
Yes, as noted above by Dick Pole Upside, Henry could be extending a "personal guarantee" that Lester won't be traded in lieu of writing a NTC into the contract. 

 

[EllisTheRimMan]

I mean, Henry strikes me as an exceptionally good owner. He's been willing to open up the checkbook, he's managed Fenway really well, the team has been really successful, and he seems like he's always been really good about delegating baseball stuff to the baseball people. Maybe they told him he should go and seal the deal here. They just seem like two totally different people.

 
Henry is the best owner in Red Sox history by far.  He is also one of the best in baseball and for that matter in all of sports.  The cynicism and just plain nastiness of some of these posts boggles the mind.  WTF??!!!  3 trophies in 9 years after 86 of futility didn't make some of you even slightly appreciative of what he has done for this team and their fans..
 
I think this is a great thing and signals that the Sox and Lester are very close to getting this done.  Hope JH can close the deal and maybe Lester can extract an extra mil or 2 during their f2f.

 

[EvilEmpire]

Yes, as noted above by Dick Pole Upside, Henry could be extending a "personal guarantee" that Lester won't be traded in lieu of writing a NTC into the contract.

Why on earth would he promise that and not put it in a contract?

 

[MrNewEngland]

Why on earth would he promise that and not put it in a contract?

Maybe because the Red Sox don't give NTCs and it would set a bad precedence.

 

[snowmanny]

 
Yes, as noted above by Dick Pole Upside, Henry could be extending a "personal guarantee" that Lester won't be traded in lieu of writing a NTC into the contract. 

A "personal guarantee" is not as valuable as an actual NTC. Sometimes circumstances dictate a trade (e.g. Hamels). An actual NTC gives the player some leverage in choosing his destination or renegotiating his contract (e.g. Hamels and his option year; Schilling and his extension).

 

[EvilEmpire]

Maybe because the Red Sox don't give NTCs and it would set a bad precedence.

Bad precedent? Seems like a damn good time to break precedent and show Lester how much they care. Especially if they aren't the highest bidder. And after the low offer(s) last spring. And after trading him.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Also, if Lester ever does agree to be traded, it would be easier to move the contract.

 

[The Talented Allen Ripley]

The Sox provided a no trade clause to Pedroia.

 

[catomatic]

A "personal guarantee" is not as valuable as an actual NTC. Sometimes circumstances dictate a trade (e.g. Hamels). An actual NTC gives the player some leverage in choosing his destination or renegotiating his contract (e.g. Hamels and his option year; Schilling and his extension).

Bronson Arroyo would have something to say about personal guarantees.

 

[Murby]

Let's assume Lester would be taking slightly less to come back to the Red Sox. Why wouldn't he demand a NTC if so? And if JH only went down there to kiss his ring & offer the NTC clause as an extra bonus, he shouldn't have wasted his jet fuel. I have to think Henry went there to give Lester the best offer he could give and lay out the case why he should come back as well as do some groveling. No?
 
Edit: Punctuation.

 

[barbed wire Bob]

Bad precedent? Seems like a damn good time to break precedent and show Lester how much they care. Especially if they aren't the highest bidder. And after the low offer(s) last spring. And after trading him.

The Red Sox have signed contracts with limited no-trade protection before, most recently with Sandoval. I don't see giving Lester a full NTC is breaking a major precedent an, I agree with you, it would be a good gesture.

 

[Jnai]

 
Henry is the best owner in Red Sox history by far.  He is also one of the best in baseball and for that matter in all of sports.  The cynicism and just plain nastiness of some of these posts boggles the mind.  WTF??!!!  3 trophies in 9 years after 86 of futility didn't make some of you even slightly appreciative of what he has done for this team and their fans..
 
I think this is a great thing and signals that the Sox and Lester are very close to getting this done.  Hope JH can close the deal and maybe Lester can extract an extra mil or 2 during their f2f.

 
He is, by far, the best owner in Red Sox history. I just think it's surprising that he's going to meet with Lester. If he was instrumental in Lester's cancer treatment and how it was handled with his family, it makes complete sense. But he doesn't ordinarily seem like the guy that you send out to meet with a free agent. Perhaps, because of their special relationship, this is a different case.
 
Article with mention of the aforementioned story from earlier:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/09/02/lester_diagnosed_with_cancer/?page=full

From 2006: Lester diagnosed with cancer

Sox pitcher has form of lymphoma
By Gordon Edes and Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff  |  September 2, 2006
The Red Sox announced yesterday that Jon Lester, 22, had been diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a blood cancer, and will begin treatment in the coming week.
 
Sox manager Terry Francona, who said he visited Lester at Massachusetts General Hospital Thursday, informed the team of Lester's condition about an hour before last night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
...
Lester is single. Red Sox majority owner John W. Henry earlier this week flew his parents, John and Kathie, from Seattle to Boston on his private jet.