Jon Lester Rumors: Cubs, Giants, Red Sox, Braves Still Interested
By Bryan Rose
Jon Lester is drawing the most free agent interest from the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves.
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With Pablo Sandoval off the market as the key free agent for the upcoming 2015 season, it appears most have turned their attention to ace pitcher Jon Lester.
Some may argue that it’s Lester who’s more valuable than Sandoval, who signed with the Boston Red Sox, but alas Kung Fu Panda will see the field on a daily basis while Jon Lester will only do so every five days. Still, that hasn’t stopped a couple teams from throwing the bank at the 30-year-old as both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs have offers on the table.
They’re not the only teams with interest in signing Lester however as the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves are also said to be in the running, though Atlanta could be dipping out soon. Not only have they traded away Jason Heyward, they could also be moving Justin Upton in the near future and it remains to be seen just how competitive they’ll be this season. Lester has met with the Braves and does own a home in the area, but the AJC believes the Braves will not enter a bidding war.
As for the Giants, they appear to be very much in on Jon Lester and could give both the Cubs and Red Sox a run for their money. Outside of Madison Bumgarner, the World Champs’ starting pitching rotation is suspect and he’d not only be paid handsomely to play for a team who has won three out of the past five titles, but would do so in what might be the most pitcher friendly park in baseball. He’d also not have to deal with the pressures of being a number one starter behind Bumgarner.
San Francisco has still yet to formally give Lester an offer though despite meeting with the team on Monday, something the Cubs and Red Sox have already done.
It appears, barring an oddity, one of those three teams will be the lucky winner of Lester’s services.
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