Tyrone Biggums said:
Eh, I rather Joc and Seager. Pederson is a much better fielder than Tavares and has a ton more plate discipline. Much better suited for RF than Tavares is for Fenway. Less power and average, more OBP and SB.
Trading Jon Lester (news and speculation thread)
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Eh, I rather Joc and Seager. Pederson is a much better fielder than Tavares and has a ton more plate discipline. Much better suited for RF than Tavares is for Fenway. Less power and average, more OBP and SB.
nattysez said:
Bell is # 33 on mlb.com's mid season rankings, which came out just a couple days ago
Pittsburgh is interested in Miller also. Lester/Miller for Bell/Taillon is a really interesting possibility.
Tallion was looked at as one of if not the top pitching prospect in baseball. Bell has a ton of potential and could come right up and be an upgrade. He's not as far away as people think. Never under estimate a fan base that NEEDS to win a title. It's been too long.nattysez said:
Sox play in Pittsburgh in a few weeks too....heading there for the series. The Bucs would be a great short term result, long term there's no chance they resign him and he ends up in pinstripes.
I wouldn't hate him going to Pittsburgh at all. That would be a great result as I really like the makeup of that club.bosockboy said:
This kinda bums me out as it carries far more weight than best writer twitters confirming Lester may be gone this week.Corsi said:
glennhoffmania said:
In my mind, it's easy. Sign Lester. He's been terrific for almost all of his career. He wants to be here (by all accounts). The Sox can afford what it will take to sign him.
However, if they don't sign him, trade him for the best package you can get (which should be pretty nice) and then sign Shields to a lower contract in the offseason. Nearly as good a pitcher, at a lower price, PLUS you get whatever you can get for Lester.
snowmanny said:
Fairly sure the Sox are going to have a protected 1st round draft pick next year.
Papelbon's Poutine said:
UnfrozenCavemanGrebeck said:
It was a rhetorical question. Jon Lester could just as well end up signing an extension wherever he goes, feeling 1) he really likes it there, and 2) they're offering me close enough to what I might get on the free agent market for me to take it rather than have it pulled, forcing me to do the relocation shuffle all over again. What you guys should have picked apart was my suggestion that a team may ask for a window in which to negotiate an extension. Given that we are south of 60 hours until the deadline and the number of players supposedly in this market, there's little incentive for the Sox to wait around on anyone. It's a bittersweet situation.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
I'm still not sure why you think you have some great insight with this post you've repeated 20 times. Of course you are right that it is one interpretation of events over the past 8 months with Lester. That doesn't make it a smart decision by ownership, it doesn't make it palatable to fans of the team, and it doesn't make it any easier to envision an alternative strategy for achieving competitiveness in 2015 given what's obviously available or for maintaining competitiveness after that if the strategy is to use the great depth in the farm system to convince teams to make players like Stanton available by overpaying.DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
One interpretation of the strategy you highlight is that they want to lower the payroll commitments as much as possible and sell the team. The value probably can't ever be any higher. A hedge fund guy who wants to maximize profits would be all over that. If so, I wish they'd get on with it. It's been a great ride, but Henry's no spring chicken and it won't last forever anyway.
Nick Cafardo @nickcafardo 3m
Red Sox have never received a figure from the Jon Lester side on what it would have taken to sign him according to a source. Too late now.
https://twitter.com/nickcafardo/status/494220740514701313
Red Sox have never received a figure from the Jon Lester side on what it would have taken to sign him according to a source. Too late now.
https://twitter.com/nickcafardo/status/494220740514701313
We are going to get some monster pieces here.
You have to think a high lrvel positional player is most likely with a lower level high ceiling arm as a secondary piece.
You have to think a high lrvel positional player is most likely with a lower level high ceiling arm as a secondary piece.
https://twitter.com/nickcafardo/status/494220740514701313soxhop411 said:
link to tweet
link to tweet[/url]Some of the biggest bullshit ever posted on the Internet.
The Internet.
I think we are all resigned to the notion that Lester is not going to be back with Boston next year. So trading him makes the most sense. And I think that the number of teams in on him does mean that there's a good chance the Sox will get a pretty terrific haul here - pieces that they either would love to keep or deal for something else.
Jon, it's been great. Really, truly great. You were a stud for this team. I'm going to miss you. Thanks for the championships. Now go help another club do well and bring back to Boston as good a return as possible.
(Oh, and re-sign with us when the season is over, please….)
Jon, it's been great. Really, truly great. You were a stud for this team. I'm going to miss you. Thanks for the championships. Now go help another club do well and bring back to Boston as good a return as possible.
(Oh, and re-sign with us when the season is over, please….)
Do we really need all these tweets being posted that are essentially saying "the Red Sox are likely to trade Jon Lester"?
No shit. We don't need a Dan Roche tweet saying that. It adds nothing to the conversation and just clutters up an already almost unreadable thread.
If it's previously unreported news, by all means. But otherwise - no one cares how quick you are to post the newest tweet confirming something confirmed by 8 million other confirmations.
No shit. We don't need a Dan Roche tweet saying that. It adds nothing to the conversation and just clutters up an already almost unreadable thread.
If it's previously unreported news, by all means. But otherwise - no one cares how quick you are to post the newest tweet confirming something confirmed by 8 million other confirmations.
foulkehampshire said:
Both sides are in full-on pre-emptive spin control mode now, I'm sure. How long before we start hearing about chicken and beer?
BTW, much as I hate to lose Lester, I have to admit this is kind of fun.
When was the last time a prospect acquired in trade went straight to #1 on our prospect rankings? Could happen here.
Marte?
Marte?
Sure it does. Lester's side probably just kept saying "Market value" and never gave a figure.MakMan44 said:
The general rule is "whoever gives the first number loses" in a negotiation. The Sox offered $70M? That's a low ball, but a starting point for a counter. Maybe the counter never came.
I don't claim to have any great insight but nice try. I do have an opinion and given that you feel free to display yours, I feel equally obliged to state mine.Plympton91 said:
That said, data and history suggest that this ownership doesn't do things on the fly. We may not agree with their decisions and they certainly merit criticism. However accusing them of being wrong and stupid and cheap and mean every time that make a move we don't like seems even more presumptuous than anything I have ever posted. Its suggesting that the poster has even more insight into the business of baseball than a professional MLB front office, albeit with far less information. Remember, anecdotes are not data.
MakMan44 said:
Yup. And I was dying to know what the number was but I haven't been able to find it. That doesn't mean Ben doesn't know what it is.
Mookie Betts is the #14 overall prospect according to MLB.com, so that would take some doing.bosockboy said:
thestardawg said:
Bell and Taillon is unrealistic, IMO. One prospect in that range is probably about the best they can hope for, plus lottery tickets or lesser prospects who are more advanced. The Red Sox have plenty of mid-range talent on the farm, so someone like Bell should be what they are targeting with Lester. I wouldn't put him quite in the same category as Pederson, but if the best offer they get is Bell and Ramirez, I think that's more than enough to pull the trigger.
Also, Meadows is probably a pipe dream. I can't see the Pirates giving up on him so soon after he was drafted. He's barely been with the organization a year. I'd probably take him over Bell even if his ETA is likely a year later, but that might be the draft hound in me breaking through. His ability to cover right field the way Victorino or Drew have in the past is alluring. I'd be surprised if the Pirates didn't also prefer him to Bell, though, so I'm guessing he's not on the table.
FWIW , Sickels had Bell at 37th and Meadows at 51 (right behind Frazier at 50). Taillon is out of the top 75. I know you don't draft for need, but in a situation like this, I think it's justifiable argue the Red Sox should be looking at add bats to the farm with a Lester trade.
Agreed....and this is really a pretty unique position that Boston is in. To have won three World Series championships this decade (and one just last year), and be in the selling position with a top-of-the-rotation left hander can really help retool. And the fact that Lester seems to be very open to returning, this could be a pivotal few days to set the stage for a long term core (perhaps even more than with the Varitek/Lowe trade). And Pittsburgh has the young talent (Bell/Taillon/??) to do it; and it is unlikely he'd sign long-term there anyways.Savin Hillbilly said:
It is an odd position for them to have this type of a trading chip, and the next 48 hours could be key to the next 4-6 years.
Well, that doesn't follow. They may have accurately judged the likelihood and gotten burned by an unlikely result.Plympton91 said:
foulkehampshire said:
Why not? It was confirmed by Lester's agents.
MakMan44 said:
There was a tweet from Peter Abe (I believe) that spoke about years and numbers - it was 5-6 years at $20-22M. Note this was denied by Lester's agents.
Something needs to give here. Lester as a rental? At this point, with the Sox appearing more and more likely to not meet whatever number him and his agent are looking for - he ain't coming back this offseason. If Ben made this clear to the Dodgers, I think they'd blink and give one, if not two of Seager/Pederson/Urias.
The Dodgers need to make a deal with the Red Sox more than the Red Sox need to make a deal with the Dodgers. With all that talent and money they have and with no World Series win since 1988, that ownership and fanbase are growing impatient. This may be what gets them over the top. Ben is playing with house money at this point.
The Dodgers need to make a deal with the Red Sox more than the Red Sox need to make a deal with the Dodgers. With all that talent and money they have and with no World Series win since 1988, that ownership and fanbase are growing impatient. This may be what gets them over the top. Ben is playing with house money at this point.
wade boggs chicken dinner said:
All I see is Nick Cafardo referencing a "source". Hardly concrete at all.
SoxFanInPdx said:
Ben needs to not focus on one team and go to every interested team and make it clear there are 5-8 other teams lining up and there is only one Jon Lester. He then needs to shop the best offer he gets to the other teams to top it, rinse and repeat until he can't do any better. He is in the driver's seat here.
The "rent-a-player" tag, while technically correct, seems particularly inapt for a team like LA. No WS appearance in 25 years, newish ownership that has gone all in with a bloated $240M payroll, a team currently in line for a playoff run, and multiple top prospects who aren't going to get them to the top this year. They have a chance to get a guy who was the best postseason pitcher last year and has been a top 5 guy in the AL this year, and the means to sign him long term if they want to go that direction.
IMO, these factors will push LA to put one of their top prospects on the table and trump any offer from Pitt or Mil.
IMO, these factors will push LA to put one of their top prospects on the table and trump any offer from Pitt or Mil.
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