Jon Lester Rumors

Red Sox, Lester Announce Extension

5:22pm: WEEI Alex Speier has the year-by-year breakdown of Lester's deal. He'll be paid pretty well over the next five years. 11:08am: Gary Dzen of Boston.com reports the Red Sox have announced the five-year deal. No details were given. 10:41am: Ron Borges of the Boston Herald reports the Red Sox and Jon Lester are expected to announce the signing of his $30MM extension this morning. The extension is expected to include a $13MM club option for 2014. The cat was out of the bag last Sunday when Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan had the scoop.   Continue Reading

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Lester Announcement Coming Soon

9:13pm: WEEI's Rob Bradford says the Red Sox will make an announcement about Lester Sunday morning, presumably regarding his new extension. 10:18am: According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester will take a physical this weekend. If he passes, his five-year, $30MM deal will become official.   Continue Reading

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Sox, Jon Lester Agree On Five-Year Extension?

MONDAY, 2:07pm: WEEI's Alex Speier spoke to Lester, who said there is currently no contract extension agreement with the Red Sox. SUNDAY, 12:42pm: Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports is reporting the Red Sox have signed Jon Lester to a five-year, $30MM extension. The contract includes a $13MM team option for 2014. Along with Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, this makes Lester the third long term contract handed out to homegrown talent in three months. Passan writes, "The impending deal is the largest given to a pitcher with around two years of service time, doubling the four-year, $15 million deal Cleveland’s...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Lester, Pudge

Links for Monday... Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel talked to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, who said the Yankees have yet to contact him regarding their possible third base need. ESPN's Rob Neyer says the Mets don't need Pedro Martinez. The scouts Buster Olney talked to absolutely adore Stephen Strasburg. One of them said, "Right now, he's better than A.J. Burnett." There's no way the Nationals can pass on a talent like this. WEEI's Alex Speier compares Jon Lester's record-breaking contract to others given to young pitchers. Jim Baumbach of Newsday talked to Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado, who promoted...   Continue Reading

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Lester Wants To Stay In Boston

Joe Haggerty of the Boston Metro has a Jon Lester update on his blog, Hacks with Haggs. Lester says he wants to play for the Red Sox for his entire career. "If they approach me we can work something out to not only be a Red Sox for the next four or five years, but for my whole career." Lester's entering his last pre-arbitration season and isn't scheduled to become a free agent until after 2012. Two of his teammates, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, signed long-term deals with the Sox this offseason. Yesterday, Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Lester, Arbitration, Beimel

Links for Friday... RotoAuthority hosts a roundtable discussion of the worst fantasy picks of the first three rounds. Nationals president Stan Kasten expects "heavy trade talk," given the team's surplus of first basemen/outfielders. Nick Johnson is the most likely candidate. Mark Sweeney may be forced into retirement, according to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News. Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal wonders if Jon Lester could be the next Red Sox player to get a long-term extension. Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes the salary arbitration class of 2009. Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle has Astros...   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Reach Deals With Bard, Penny

9:59pm: Ian Browne of MLB.com weighs in on Bard. He discusses the catching situation, and in particular, how the Red Sox will use Bard if free-agent Jason Varitek returns to the franchise. SI.com points out Penny's Interleague numbers: 7-11 with a 5.08 ERA in 24 appearances against American League opponents. Penny has spent his entire career in the National League. 8:41pm: Rob Bradford of WEEI.com spoke with Brad Penny, who confirmed his deal with the Boston Red Sox. From Bradford: “There were a lot of teams involved,” said Penny in a phone conversation. “But I wanted to go somewhere where...   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Rumors: Sabathia, Youkilis, Tazawa

Red Sox rumors and links abound this morning. ESPN's Buster Olney says the Red Sox will meet with C.C. Sabathia within the next few days. It's unknown whether they have serious interest. Olney adds that the Sox hope to sign Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester long-term, in the wake of the Dustin Pedroia deal. Peter Gammons suggested a deal for Youkilis could get done quickly. Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe says GM Theo Epstein has prioritized catching. Epstein suggested more catchers may be available in trade than people think. Benjamin says the Red Sox also want to add a...   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Sign Pedroia To Extension

5:57pm: MLB.com's Ian Browne wonders if the Pedroia signing is the first of several. Will the Sox be able to hammer out extensions with Jon Lester, Kevin Youkilis, and Jonathan Papelbon this winter? 11:33am: Tony Massarotti has the contract breakdown. 11:18am: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox signed second baseman Dustin Pedroia to a six-year deal worth about $40.5MM. ESPN's Peter Gammons was right on this scoop as well. The deal buys out two years of free agency and also has a club option for 2015. Rosenthal cites the deals signed by Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, and Ryan Braun...   Continue Reading

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Santana Aftermath

Now that the players have been agreed upon for the Johan Santana trade, some depictions of the 11th-hour negotiations have leaked out. LEN3 says Santana is expected to get a six-year deal worth around $130MM ($21.66MM annually). He also notes that Santana had given the Twins an end-of-day Tuesday deadline or else he would've used his no-trade clause. Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record chronicles Bill Smith's last-ditch attempts to get the Yankees and Red Sox involved. He apparently asked the Yankees for Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and a top prospect and was denied. The Red Sox wouldn't part with..   Continue Reading

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