Red Sox GM says he's open to trading Lester
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Speaking to reporters after the trade of pitcher Jake Peavy was finalized on Saturday, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington did not rule out dealing ace Jon Lester, saying he expects to listen to offers on numerous players ahead of this Thursday's non-waiver trade deadline.
Ongoing extension talks between the Red Sox and Lester have repeatedly stalled out, and on Thursday the two sides finally agreed to put off negotiations until the end of the season.
Lester reportedly rejected a Red Sox offer in the offseason that would have paid him somewhere between $70 million and $80 million over four years. Recently it was reported that the team was willing to go as high as $100 million over five years, but Lester, who is enjoying the best season of his nine-year career, appears to be looking for a longer deal. The team has been understandably hesitant about locking the 30-year-old into a contract that would pay him $20+ million past his age-36 season.
A couple of factors are at play here for the Red Sox. As recently as a week ago, it still seemed like they were within striking range of a playoff spot in the wide-open American League. They were just 7.5 games back of the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles, and just 6 back of the second Wild Card team, the Seattle Mariners.
Since then they've lost five straight, fallen to 10.5 games back in the division and 7.5 back of the Wild Card. To make the postseason, they'll need to either leapfrog four division mates or seven fellow Wild Card hopefuls. As Cherington concedes, it may finally be time to give up any dreams of playing this October:
It's been a disappointing week, a little surprising even. We ran off a bunch of wins, then a big win Monday night up in Toronto. We kept thinking as of Tuesday we were looking toward continuing that run and adding wins. I really thought that we would. It hasn't happened.
As you start marking down the days before Thursday, it does mean something. There's a reason why they call it a deadline. We have to be mindful of what that means, where we are, what the math says about our chances.
The other factor for the Red Sox to consider is that Lester has essentially said he'd like to re-sign with the team in the offseason whether he's traded or not. While that's got to be nice for the front office to hear, and would make trading him at the deadline a lot more palatable, it could also water down any potential return Lester might fetch.
"You guys know how I feel about Jon," said Cherington. "We're certainly happy that statement [on a possible return to the team if traded] reflects how he feels about the relationship. We feel good about our relationship with him. Our position hasn't changed. We certainly look for Jon to be here in 2015."
While teams have shown a willingness in the past to part with young talent in exchange for late-season rentals, it's tough to imagine the Sox getting much of value from a team that knows for certain it's only getting two months of Lester.
That said, if they're serious about punting the rest of 2014, and confident in their ability to bring Lester back in the offseason, the Red Sox might be happy with whatever they can get.