The Seattle Mariners, behind ace Felix Hernandez and free agent signee Robinson Cano, have gotten themselves in the thick of the American League wildcard race. While the Athletics and Angels are out in front for the division, Seattle is just two games out of the second wildcard spot and is searching for some extra help to bolster the rotation.
The Mariners were reportedly interested in Rays ace David Price, but are also looking into Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester. With the Rays' recent surge, Price is now going to be tougher to move. The Red Sox, on the other hand, are in free fall and may have angered Lester by frequently lowballing him with contract offers.
Lester is having the best season of his near 10-year career for the floundering Sox, posting a 10-7 record with a 2.52 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is at a career-best 4.66 while he's ramped up his strikeout-per-nine rate to almost 10. Lester is also a native of Tacoma, Washington, which would add a homecoming wrinkle to his acquisition if they can snag him.
Lester would join Hernandez, a front runner for the AL Cy Young at this point with an 11-2 record and 1.99 ERA, and Hisashi Iwakuma, who has posted an 8-5 mark with a 3.09 ERA.
It is unclear what the Mariners would offer for Lester, but his status as a rental for the remainder of this season likely precludes pitching prospect Taijuan Walker from the discussion. The M's have other arms like James Paxton to work with though, as well as two high-end infield prospects in Nick Franklin and Brad Miller.
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