MLB Rumors: Jon Lester wants to stay with Boston Red Sox
By Bryan Rose
The Boston Red Sox have put forth what they feel are fair market offers to retain ace pitcher Jon Lester, but the All-Star hasn’t been able to find a middle ground to his liking.
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That said, despite the contractual scuffles, Lester has no desire to leave Beantown as he suggested he’d like to remain with the Red Sox for the rest of his career.
“It’s all I’ve really known,” Lester says. “You don’t see many guys that get drafted by a team and end up staying there their whole career. It’s just something that I’ve always … wanted to do.”
The pitcher also went on to say that he wasn’t a huge fan of uprooting his family by moving on to a new team, suggesting that they have an already established social life in Boston and he wouldn’t want to take that away from them.
Boston has been rumored to be potentially interested in fellow pitchers like Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels and given both are signed beyond this season, could the Red Sox be preparing themselves to have a bit of insurance if Lester, who is a free agent at season end, does decide to leave?
Of course, if things don’t improve in the standings for the Red Sox, any trades for players like Hamels or Lee will be taken off the table as they’re certainly not going to add salary for a non-playoff team.
It’s expected that the Red Sox and Lester will at some point again attempt to knock out an extension.