FROM FOX 25's BUTCH STEARNS
The fact that Jon Lester waited until the wee hours of the next to last day of the baseball winter meetings to make his decision on where to sign, tells us that his "heartstrings" were being tugged by Boston. But in the end, money wins out over the heartstrings. Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal first to break the details of Lester signing with the Chicago Cubs for 6 years / $155 million dollars. The deal reportedly has a vesting option for a 7th year that could bring the total value of the contract to $170 million. The average annual value of the deal is $25.8 million. That value will make Lester the second highest paid pitcher in MLB behind the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw. And with Lester choosing the Cubs it leaves the Red Sox still looking for an Ace of their pitching staff and it leaves Red Sox fans to question just how much the team wanted Lester back in the end. According to a baseball source, The Sox final offer to Lester was for six years and $135 million but with no vesting option for a 7th year.
Lester now is reunited with familiar faces in the Cubs front office. (Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod). And I'm sure Theo Epstein's pitch to Lester was convincing : "John come to the Cubs where we haven't won a World Series since 1908. Cement your baseball legacy by helping to break a curse that's been around forever. You have nothing left to accomplish in Boston. You've already done it all there?" All of that makes sense but in the end Jon Lester chose the money. The Red Sox did not offer as much money as the Cubs or as much as the San Francisco Giants either according to several reports. So , does Jon Lester look like a hypocrite for taking the most money after saying he would take a "hometown discount"? Yes. But the Red Sox are left to deal with the fallout of being outbid and outspent by Theo Epstein and The Chicago Cubs.
