The saga that was expected to come to an end on Sunday has finally reached its conclusion here in the morning hours of Wednesday, at least for the East Coast. After it was reported late Tuesday that Jon Lester had narrowed his choices down to the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, Lester went with the latter in agreeing to a six-year, $155 million contract with the Cubs.
Lester and the Cubs were an ideal match from the very beginning. He had the connection with front office personnel, including (but not limited to) Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. Given that he was traded at midseason, he did not come with a compensatory draft pick attached. That’s in addition to the fact that he was the steady veteran presence at the top of their rotation that the Cubs had coveted coming into the winter.
It had been mentioned earlier in the week that Lester wasn’t necessarily going to take the highest offer. The San Francisco Giants actually offered him an extra year, and subsequently more money overall, in the form of a seven-year, $168 million offer. However, they were told on Tuesday evening that they were not in the running. The Red Sox, on the other hand, were in the running until the end, but offered $20 million less over the six years. They had originally offered Lester a four-year, $70 million contract last winter as they attempted to extend him.
For the Cubs, they get their man and a top notch addition to their rotation to couple with Jake Arrieta. While there’s still work to be done, a top four of Lester, Arrieta, Jason Hammel, and Kyle Hendricks is a pretty good starting point. Stay tuned as details continue to trickle out, regarding the negotiations, as well as more analysis of just what this means for the Cubs as an organization.
