Chicago Cubs favorite to sign Jon Lester?
By Bryan Rose
Few teams have a better minor league depth than the Chicago Cubs, at least from an offensive standpoint. From Kris Bryant to Addison Russell, the Chicago Cubs appear to have any offensive woes figured out.
More from Chicago Cubs
- MLB Rumors: Yankees mistake, Cardinals trade package, Cubs choice
- MLB Rumors: Cardinals budging on Arenado, Orioles-Ohtani package, Yankees backup plan
- Cubs: Cody Bellinger is putting up come-and-get-me numbers
- Cubs front office deserves an apology for Willson Contreras hysteria
- MLB standings ordered by hard hit rate: Struggling Cardinals still cracking bats
But as we all know, pitching wins championships and despite the abundance of offensive talent in the Cubs system, pitching isn’t exactly top notch. What the Chicago Cubs do have plenty of though is money and they’re likely to be wheeling and dealing come the offseason.
No free agent prize is likely to be bigger than ace pitcher Jon Lester, who the Boston Red Sox traded to the Oakland A’s after the two sides were unable to agree on a contract extension. There has been talk of Jon Lester potentially exploring the idea of returning to the Red Sox, but it sounds as if the Chicago Cubs may be the favorite to sign the All-Star arm.
Asked by a reader if Lester would be joining the Cubs next season during an MLB Trade Rumors chat, Steve Adams gave the following answer.
"Very early, but I’ve been thinking that for quite some time. We’ll see what reports indicate after the season, but that’d be my guess right now."
Nabbing Jon Lester is going to take a significant amount of money though few teams have more available funds than the Cubs, even less have such a pressing need. Given that it makes sense that the Cubs will be in play to sign Lester and very well could be the favorites to do so.