ehaz said:
I know we've seen a lot of speculation with the LAD... but who else has the prospects (and potential need) for Lester? Pittsburgh could lineup nicely with Taillon, Bell, Glasnow, Hanson as possible targets.
Of the teams in it this year, I'd say (in no particular order):
Baltimore (Bundy, Gausman, Harvey)
Washington (Giolito, Cole, Taylor)
St Louis (Tavares, Piscotty)
Toronto (Norris, Pompey, Hoffman)
Seattle (Walker, Paxton, Jackson, Peterson)
SF (Crick)
Milwaukee (Nelson)
Atlanta (Pereza, Sims)
LAA (Newcomb?)
It seems unlikely that the Red Sox would deal Lester within the division, but you never know. Both Toronto and Baltimore have the prospects to get it done. You'd think Toronto would be getting a little antsy for a title, since they're pretty much all-in right now and their pitching is weak.
Tavares probably isn't going to happen. I'm not sure SF, Atlanta, or LAA really have the top level prospects to get it done. Seattle definitely does, and Lester is from the Seattle area, so that's a possibility. The Nats could put together a competitive package, but their rotation looks pretty set unless there's an injury I'm not aware of. Milwaukee could probably use some help, but of course their top prospect is another AAA starter.
Not including cost-controlled nonprospects because that just gets too complicated, but if there are multiple pieces moving around, then you could get a lot more creative than this list. And we've seen some pretty creative trades from the Red Sox, so that might even be the most likely.