Star free agent Jon Lester has finally decided where he will play baseball for the forseeable future, and it will be on the north side of Chicago. Lester opted to sign with the Chicago Cubs, choosing their deal over other offers from the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox, among other teams.
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In choosing the Cubs, Lester also elected to go with the Theo Epstein, now the Cubs' president of baseball operations. Epstein was the longtime general manager for the Red Sox, and he is the man that brought Lester to the organization. According to media reports, Lester's deal with Chicago is for six years and $155 million. There is also a vesting option for a seventh year that could make the total value of the deal approximately $170 million.
The Lester signing is the latest success in what has so far been a big offseason for Chicago. They also recently hired former Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. Maddon had great success in Tampa, and he is regarded as one of the most forward-thinking managers in the game today.
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Maddon was excited about the Lester signing, saying, "It's not often you get to win the lottery. We won the baseball lottery so far this year, but now it's up to us to put it into effect. It's all theory right now. We've got to make it real, but you need pieces like this to make it real."
The addition of Lester adds a veteran presence who knows what it is like to compete for, and win, a championship. The Cubs famously have not won a World Series since 1908, and they have not made the postseason in several years. Maddon and others around the league have said that the team could make the playoffs if things break right, and adding Lester certainly marks a big step in that direction.
Lester narrowed his choices to Chicago and Boston, and Boston's final offer was reported as six years and $135 milliion with no seventh year option.
Lester will be 31 by the time the 2015 season starts. He is coming off of a stellar year, and he has a history of pitching well in the postseason.
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