Tyrone Biggums said:Sandoval has nothing to do with Lester. The third base position had a negative WAR last year and it was a big hole that needed to be filled. Panda was the best one on the market and they ended up getting it done. With a better FA class for starters next year I feel comfortable with not going nuts for Lester. I would assume by year 4 he would have been in steep decline in Boston. The NL lengthens his career and that probably factored in his decision. He is out of the AL and if the Sox are planning on being contenders that's the most important thing.
This keeps getting repeated but why the hell would they pay $200 million to David Price/Jordan Zimmermann/Johnny Cueto if they wouldn't pony up a few million a year to keep a guy they drafted and developed? It's not like this better FA class is going to be paid less. At some point, if you want to add legit SP from free agency, you have to spend big bucks. Just like you do when you need to add a young, valuable position player.