Lester to Cubs: Rent Garments Thread
- Thread starter ArgentinaSOXfan
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Sad day, as the coup would have been to sign the player you traded away months ago. Lester gave us his best. That said, the money and the years may have gotten out of control, and what we can do over that period with 25m a year is substantial. The Cubs just got better and a hell of a lot more likeable.
Disappointing on so many levels. Fuck Theo, Maddon and the Cubs. I hope Lester has a wonderful career, pitching for a fourth place Cubs team that goes another 100 years without a championship.
This will not reflect well PR-wise on Ben and Co, however. They did not come close to the offers put forth by CHI and SF. 6/135 for him is low. However, if he did get that vesting option to get it to 170 then yes that's way too much.
Meh. Can't blame Lester for taking the money. Can't really blame the Sox for not wanting to match those figures. Sad that he drew it out for so long probably hoping the Sox would match.
I'm not sure if Lester took less money, though. I read something earlier about California taxes being higher and thus the Giants had to bid higher just to keep up with the other offers on the table. I suspect it was all about the money for Lester, as is usually the case.
I respect the Red Sox for not going any higher than 135 million -- I wanted them to offer him less. It should be noted that Theo has a pretty poor track record with BIG money free agent signings -- the Lester contract will probably be another disaster for him.
I respect the Red Sox for not going any higher than 135 million -- I wanted them to offer him less. It should be noted that Theo has a pretty poor track record with BIG money free agent signings -- the Lester contract will probably be another disaster for him.
Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
This pretty much sums it up.
Can't blame the FO for not going that high, but I also can't blame Lester for taking this deal over ours.
And at the end of the day, I can't feel too bad about a stand-up dude like Lester getting paid. He handled this perfectly.
I'll cheer for him until he's facing us.
Probably best for all parties at those terms. If you hate Lester for going to the freakin Cubs for $155 mil you must not have had too much bad shit happen to you in life. Guy gave you everything he had for his entire career, raised millions for cancer, and helped win two World Series. That's a baseball fan's goddamn dream. Thanks, Jon.
I'm upset but I have great respect for the Sox having a plan and sticking to it. It must have been difficult not to say fuck it and match. Fuck Theo go Sox.
FredCDobbs said:
I love Lester, but fuck Theo. And Maddon. And Ricketts.
And get Cespedes off my team now. Too many bad memories.
Dan to Theo to Ben said:
Make the first offer 5/90, Lester's people counter with 6 years and they settle on 5/110 with a vesting option for a 6th year (just my guess). But no sense dwelling on that anymore.
Good luck in Chicago, Jon.
Get some starters, Ben.
Lester gets more money while he and his family enjoy a better quality of life via not having to deal with the dark side of an insanely rabid fanbase.
Disappointing, for sure, but that's how it works out some times. Will miss him, I wish him well, and now hope the Red Sox have an awesome plan B.
Yeah this is a rough one 
I just sort of felt he would always be coming back. But that's a lot of money to give up, and a pretty shocking contract if that option is for real. Cherington better have a pretty sweet back-up plan, he's going to be hard to replace.
I just sort of felt he would always be coming back. But that's a lot of money to give up, and a pretty shocking contract if that option is for real. Cherington better have a pretty sweet back-up plan, he's going to be hard to replace.
I don't understand the ire toward the Cubs. They needed to pay up to get over the hump and presumably they won't have to pay as much of a premium for their next free agent target.
That said, as we all know, Lester is 31 at the start of next season and has over 2,100 major and minor league innings under his belt. There is a ton of risk in signing a pitcher like that, regardless of durability especially at ~$25mm+ per year. If his back three or four years end up looking ugly, the team who signs him probably has to forgo a few value signings of the type that helped Boston over the top in 2013 and might help the Cubs when they truly get close. This was a good miss for Boston at that price point.
That said, as we all know, Lester is 31 at the start of next season and has over 2,100 major and minor league innings under his belt. There is a ton of risk in signing a pitcher like that, regardless of durability especially at ~$25mm+ per year. If his back three or four years end up looking ugly, the team who signs him probably has to forgo a few value signings of the type that helped Boston over the top in 2013 and might help the Cubs when they truly get close. This was a good miss for Boston at that price point.
With that money, I think that the RS ended up dodging a bullet. As long as they don't give up the BB boys in the next few weeks, this will all work out just fine.
By the way, I would rather the Pats sign Revis long-term than the Sox sign Lester. Priorities.
By the way, I would rather the Pats sign Revis long-term than the Sox sign Lester. Priorities.
If the Red Sox give up Bogaerts, Betts, or Swihart for Cole Hamels I will start to lose my faith in this front office.
RedOctober3829 said:
Cafardo on MLBN saying that if they want Hamels they will HAVE to give up one of these guys plus a few of their young pitchers. Shoot me if anything like that is actually discussed in the Sox front office.
Man, I really wanted to get him back. But as a Sox fan, I feel nothing but empathy for Cubs fans. May Jon help lead them to their own 2004. (In one of the few upcoming years when the Sox aren't going to win it, of course.)
Maybe it'll be next year. Maybe it's all happening.
Maybe it'll be next year. Maybe it's all happening.
Anyone with animosity towards people who won MULTIPLE World Series for the Boston Red Sox should be sentenced to reliving 2003 for eternity in Tartarus.
I predict the bad mouthing of Lester to commence in the Boston Globe, by Thursday morning. Thanks alot front office.
Bigpupp said:
Yeah, no. Amaro can rot along with Theo. If that's the cost of Hamels, I don't want him. I don't especially want Shields or Scherzer (at $200M) either.
RedOctober3829 said:
I'm guessing they will build a package around Henry Owens. It'll be a steep price, but it's one I'd pay given the fact that they came up short with Lester. If it's going to take one of those three, you walk away and look into other trade options. That said, 6/155 with a vesting option up to 7/170 is past what I would have been comfortable with for a guy Lester's age. He doesn't need to be good in years 5 and 6 to trigger the option, he just needs to be healthy, so the Cubs could be looking at three years of him coming up well short of being worth his contract AAV.
I think the Red Sox were right not to match, but the question for me is how high would they have to have gone to change his mind? If 6/135 made it this hard to decide, does 6/140 get it done? 6/144? They may have drawn the line in the sand in the wrong place. Oh well, nothing to do now but get swept up in the trade rumors.
I wonder how well he will do in Wrigley. From what I understand it's considered to be a hitters park and not friendly to left handed pitchers.