December 10, 201411 yr I'm not going to lie, this one hurts. Lester has been one of my favorite players since he came up with the Sox. Through beating cancer and winning the 2 Series it seemed like I watched him grow up. When the Sox scheduled a 2nd meeting with Lester's agents last night I really thought it would be to finalize a deal. I think in the end the Red Sox didn't want to go beyond 6 years and the Cubs were willing to throw in the vesting option for year 7. They've been pretty unwavering on not going above 6 years for pitching. Where they really went wrong was lowballing him back in spring training. If they'd have offered 6 years $110 million then they'd have signed him. I've got no hard feelings towards Lester at all. He was nothing but first class and a workhorse the whole time he pitched for the Sox. I knew Theo would be hard to beat if he was all in but I thought Lester's ties to Boston gave them a little bit of an upper hand. I never was too concerned about the Giants or Dodgers. As for what the Red Sox do now they should still be all right. I'd have to think that they go after James Shields and kick the tires on Max Scherzer. They have plenty of pieces to make a deal for a pitcher if Cole Hamels will waive his limited no trade clause or the Reds or A's want to add offense. The back end of the rotation is already pretty solid but they need at least one arm at the front end.
December 10, 201411 yr It will be good for baseball if the Cubs can contend. There will be a lot of excitement on the North side with the renovations to Wrigley and all.
December 10, 201411 yr What does the Cubs rotation look like now? They've signed Lester & Hammel, right? Jon Lester - 16-11, 2.46 ERA Jake Arrieta - 10-5, 2.53 ERA Jason Hammel - 10-11, 3.47 ERA (was 8-5 with 2.98 ERA with Cubs before trade) Kyle Hendricks - 7-2, 2.46 ERA Travis Wood - 8-13, 5.03 ERA
December 10, 201411 yr C'mon Crash, the Reds did sign Riggleman to coach 3rd base...big improvement there.... It's not an upgrade if you have no one on base to wave around...or hold up. A better signing for the Reds would be Steve Smith going to the Cubs, Cards, Brewers, Pirates.
December 10, 201411 yr C'mon Crash, the Reds did sign Riggleman to be the manager come August...big improvement there.... Fixed that one for you.
December 10, 201411 yr Jon Lester - 16-11' date=' 2.46 ERA Jake Arrieta - 10-5, 2.53 ERA Jason Hammel - 10-11, 3.47 ERA (was 8-5 with 2.98 ERA with Cubs before trade) Kyle Hendricks - 7-2, 2.46 ERA Travis Wood - 8-13, 5.03 ERA[/quote'] Lester replaced Samardjiza basically.
December 10, 201411 yr Lester replaced Samardjiza basically. Lester and Arrieta at the top of the rotation is extremely strong. The rest of the rotation is solid too. I did not realize Wood's numbers were that bad last year.
December 10, 201411 yr The Cubs will try and move Edwin Jackson and his albatross contract. If not, he and Wood could battle for the #5 spot. They could move Wood, Jackson (6-15, 6.33 ERA), Japanese lefty Tsuyoshi Wada (4-4, 3.25 ERA), and/or Jacob Turner (6-11, 6.13 ERA) for another #4 or #5. They have done a good job of developing pitching depth.
December 11, 201411 yr I think they'll attempt to get Shields as well... Haven't heard nothing about that. They are however going after Jonny Gomes and they are interested in catcher David Ross
December 11, 201411 yr They just signed an Allstar catcher, why would they want Ross and 38 years of age with a whopping .184 average?
December 11, 201411 yr They just signed an Allstar catcher, why would they want Ross and 38 years of age with a whopping .184 average? Because he's been Lester's personal catcher for the last 2 years. Lester loves pitching to him.
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