Jon Lester signs with Cubs, agrees to $155M deal

[Betallsports]

A decision on the Jon Lester front appears to be coming sooner rather than later and the southpaw appears to be leaning in a certain direction according to multiple league sources.


According to multiple league sources, there is a growing sense among those in the industry that Lester is leaning towards signing with the Chicago Cubs. Sources have indicated to Over the Monster that the Cubs are making a hard push to sign Lester and the two sides are deeply entrenched in conversation. A final decision will likely come on Tuesday or Wednesday from Lester's camp.


The pitching market should fully awaken after Jon Lester decides where he will be playing for the foreseeable future. A report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports stated on Monday that Lester was choosing between the Cubs and the Giants. WEEI's Rob Bradford spoke to Lester's agent, who denied the report, while further reports mentioned the Red Sox still had to meet with Lester in San Diego. Since then, there has been a holding pattern waiting for Lester's decision, with the perceived favorite and the offers from all four interested clubs the only things changing.


San Francisco assistant general manager Bobby Evans told Jim Bowden on Sirius XM that they believe that the Red Sox and Cubs are ahead of them and the Dodgers in the pursuit of Lester, saying that Lester will not be taking the top dollar on the market and is instead following his "heart strings" to his destinations. This likely means the seven-year, $175 million offer reported by Ken Rosenthal on Monday night won't matter to Lester if it's not coming from the right team. Whether this decision means a reunion with Boston and the Red Sox or the chance to reunite with Theo Epstein and Co. in Chicago, where he can attempt to be the ace of the team that finally brings a World Series to the north side, remains to be seen.

 

[VIEJODINOSAUR]

I think the Red Sox had all this planned out when they traded Lester last year, knowing that they could sign him in the off season.....if he follows his heart, he will go back to Boston....

 

[C.P.]

Let's GO THEO
..Cubs

 

[Betallsports]

Let's GO THEO
..Cubs

Heard if they sign Lester, they are giving out Free Cell phones opening day

 

[C.P.]

not me for sure...haha

just won my HAWKS bet...
?....Mike

If / and when you make it to the Gulf Side..FT Myer's...

I PAY...

NO TALKIN'...IT'S ON ME

 

[Betallsports]

not me for sure...haha

just won my HAWKS bet...
?....Mike

If / and when you make it to the Gulf Side..FT Myer's...

I PAY...

NO TALKIN'...IT'S ON ME

ok, if I make it up there. Bayfront bistro ...

 

[texansfan]

I guess he's playing for money instead of a championship if he signs with the Cubs.

 

[CHOPTALK]

I guess he's playing for money instead of a championship if he signs with the Cubs.

Cubs are not that far away from being big time

 

[PatsFan1283]

Cubs are not that far away from being big time

Are they really?

I know someone who worked for the Cubs. He said Theo hires a bunch of MIT kids and pays them basically nothing because they wanna work in sports so bad and they just cover every angle of scouting possible.

Obviously that is cliff notes to what they do but that is what he said.

 

[texansfan]

Cubs are not that far away from being big time

How many times have we heard that? I guess after 100 plus years, one year it's bound to happen. I've been following Houston football from the Oilers and now the Texans since the early 70's, I'm hoping they win a SB in the next 40 years.

 

[PatsFan1283]

How many times have we heard that? I guess after 100 plus years, one year it's bound to happen.

Yeah I don't follow baseball much but I'll believe it when I see it.

Wood and Prior were supposed to be the future

 

[doubledeuce22]

Cubs are not that far away from being big time

Neither were the 2014 saints

 

[texansfan]

Sports Illustrated had an issue earlier this year that proclaimed the Astros' would win the WS in 16 or 17, I can't remember which year. We'll see....

 

[C.P.]

OK...you have my #....

It,s game on....


come to the GULF

 

[RoofTop]

Espn reporting Lester to the cubs

 

[VIEJODINOSAUR]

155 million......

 

[CHOPTALK]

Could you imagine wearing a Red Sox World Series ring on 1 hand and a Cubs World Series ring on the other hand?

Theo and Lester could be the only 2 people in the history of Earth to pull that off.

 

[Betallsports]

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Jon Lester agreed Tuesday night to a $155 million, six-year contract with the Cubs, the first big deal of the offseason involving a top-level starting pitcher and one Chicago hopes will help end more than a century of frustration at Wrigley Field's Friendly Confines.

Lester's contract, agreed to on the second day of baseball's winter meetings, contains an option for 2021 that, if it becomes guaranteed, would make the deal worth $170 million over seven seasons. The average annual value of $25.8 million is the second-highest for a pitcher behind Clayton Kershaw's $30.7 million as part of a $215 million, seven-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers that began this year.

"It's not often you get to win the lottery, and we won the baseball lottery this year," new Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Now it's up to us to put it into effect."
A three-time All-Star who turns 31 next month, Lester won two World Series titles with Boston. The left-hander joins a long-suffering team with a promising core of young players and a top-tier manager, Maddon, who left Tampa Bay and signed a $25 million, five-year contract with the Cubs.

Now, Chicago has an ace to lead the rotation as it tries to end a run of five straight losing seasons and a championship drought that dates to 1908.

Lester was dealt by the Red Sox to Oakland at the trade deadline in July and helped the A's reach the playoffs for the third straight year before a 9-8, 12-inning loss to Kansas City in the AL wild-card game. He went 16-11 with a career-best 2.46 ERA and 220 strikeouts last season and is 116-67 with a 3.58 ERA in nine big league seasons.

He also had been sought by the Red Sox, World Series champion San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lester is headed to a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2008, but he knows Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer from their time together in Boston.

Maddon had been used to small payrolls in Tampa Bay.

"I've not been on this side since my days with the Angels, when I got an email in Italy that we had signed Vladimir Guerrero," said Maddon, who was a coach in Anaheim before switching to Tampa Bay. "I think that definitely sends that message how Theo and the group feel about this particular group. But understand, we have a lot of young players that have to grow up as quickly as possible. But having Jon there adds to the flavor and the possibility."

The Cubs' management is making over the team in a big way.

Chicago has a pending $20 million, two-year deal with right-hander Jason Hammel, traded by the Cubs to Oakland last summer. Earlier Tuesday, the Cubs acquired All-Star catcher Miguel Montero from Arizona for minor league right-handers Jeferson Mejia and Zack Godley -- a deal that added $40 million in payroll over the next three years.

Chicago's rotation is likely to also include Jake Arrieta, Travis Wood, and Kyle Hendricks.

The Cubs also have a pair of All-Stars in the batting order in first baseman Anthony Rizzo and shortstop Starlin Castro and expect improved performances from young sluggers Javier Baez and Jorge Soler. Ahead is another wave of prospects that includes third baseman Kris Bryant and shortstop Addison Russell.
Maddon hopes an addition such as Lester helps change the mindset in the clubhouse when spring training starts in February.

"It definitely makes it more believable to everybody else in that room," he said. "I'll stand up and make the same speech regardless, but when you have it backed up by that particular kind of presence, it adds to it."
------
AP Sports Writer Howie Rumberg contributed to this report.

 

[C.P.]

yes..........

 

[PatsFanatic]

Are they really?

I know someone who worked for the Cubs. He said Theo hires a bunch of MIT kids and pays them basically nothing because they wanna work in sports so bad and they just cover every angle of scouting possible.

Obviously that is cliff notes to what they do but that is what he said.

The Valedictorian of my high school class was the Valedictorian of MIT 4 years later. He went to work for Theo.
So what you heard is very much true. Brings them on as interns and pays them nothing.