The Giants have interest in left-hander Jon Lester, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). Lester entered free agency after the Cubs bought him out for $10MM rather than exercise a $25MM club option on the veteran’s services for 2021.
This isn’t the first time Lester has been connected to the Giants, as Morosi notes that Lester “seriously considered” joining the club during his last trip through the free agent market, back in the 2014-15 offseason. Obviously much has changed within the Giants organization in those six years, though the club has some other ties to Lester — both manager Gabe Kapler and pitching coach Andrew Bailey are former teammates, dating back to Lester’s days with the Red Sox.
Lester would offer durability and veteran leadership to a rotation, though he is coming off a lackluster year in terms of on-field results. Over 61 innings with the Cubs in 2020, Lester posted a 5.16 ERA, 2.47 K/BB rate, and 6.2 K/9. With the caveat of the shortened season, that ERA and K/9 represented career-worsts for Lester, while his 1.6 HR/9 was the highest of his career. There wasn’t much to like from the Statcast side either, as Lester gave up a lot of hard contact and his .328 wOBA actually outpaced his .348 xwOBA.
As it happens, these numbers might actually put Lester more squarely on the Giants’ radar. As president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi recently told the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea and other reporters, the free agent pitching market contains “a number of guys who have pretty significant pedigree who are coming off injuries or down seasons for whatever reasons. It’s going to be a market where a lot of players are going to be looking to do short-term, make-good deals to re-enter the market. For us, the cases of the guys we signed last year and the pitching infrastructure we’ve built up the last couple of years will be a strong selling point for us for those kinds of targets.”
Lester doesn’t quite fit that model, as another long-term contract in free agency probably isn’t in the cards for a hurler as he enters his age-37 season. Still, landing an innings-eater like Lester would help add some depth to a Giants rotation. Kevin Gausman was re-signed via the qualifying offer, Johnny Cueto is looking to bounce back from a disappointing year of his own, and left-hander Tyler Anderson is currently lined up as the third starter. Beyond that veteran trio, Andrew Suarez, Logan Webb, Conner Menez, and (once he is back from Tommy John surgery) Tyler Beede all project to be rotation candidates, so another seasoned arm could be preferable given the lack of experience among these youngsters.
Lester and the Cubs were known to have mutual interest in a new contract, though there hasn’t been any news on that front in almost a month. Though Jed Hoyer is now running Chicago’s front office rather than Theo Epstein, it’s probably somewhat safe to assume that the interest is still there on the Cubs’ side considering Hoyer’s long stint as assistant GM in the organization (and his own familiarity with Lester when Hoyer was an assistant GM with the Red Sox).
Do the Giants need a pitching machine for batting practice? Lester’s best days are behind him.
Interesting. I like it.
I don’t know… he’s had off years and come back and been good.
Lester was already bad in 2019. ERA+ below 100. Contra Mark the OP, the Cubs don’t want him back except on Cubs $$ terms and Lester clearly already said no. Otherwise the $10M buyout would have been rolled into a new 2-year deal.
They need a time machine if they’re going to sign Lester.
Another potential Giants dumpster dive move
World Series Bound!
Exactly
I’m just having to think that 5 years ago, imagine how big of a move this would’ve been…
Maybe he would have gotten the Giants through the Cubs in 2016….
Rays should be interested in him… might take over Morton’s spot
Rays should sign him and kuebler and turn them into aces
First of all it’s spelled Kluber. Secondly, he’s not gonna be an ace like he was 5 years ago.
No thanks….he hasn’t really been that good since the last time SF made the playoffs – 2016. I’d take my chances with some other options if possible.
I might agree. He had a huge down year in the shortened season
His 18-6, 3.32 ERA 2018 season says otherwise.
On some levels his 2018 season was decent.. The wins and ERA were both nice no doubt. And I considered these when I made the comment.. But his FIP, his whip, BB/9 and K/9 were both telling that his season was likely less successful than those nice numbers you have displayed.
Even if he pitched right-handed, Lester would immediately be the ace of that staff…
Shots fired.
Sleepy Boe and the Doe……
Somebody didn’t watch Kevin Gausman pitch last year
someone didnt watch Gausman pitch in 2019
Gausman. What a joke. Dude makes 10 starts in a ridiculously short season and Giants fans think he’s suddenly Randy Johnson and Zaidi screws the pooch w/ a mindless qualifying offer.
Can you believe the Giants are paying KEVIN GAUSMAN 20 Million dollars to pitch next year? Unbelievable
@hard90, Where do you get the impression “Giants fans suddenly think [Gausman] is Randy Johnson??? No one here or any other Giants related post has said anything even close to that. As a Giants fan, my opinion is this: we desperately needed rotation help for next year, and Gausman was solid for us in 2020. Zaidi didn’t want to pay him for a three year contract like the Jays offered, as investing 40MM on such a small sample of 2020 success wasn’t prudent. The only way to keep him on a one year deal was to overpay. So, for one year, Gausman is making 5 MM more than he’s likely worth. Big deal. If he pitches close to what he did in 2020, FZ and the Giants brass will be happy with the moderate overpay. So will I. What would you have done if you were Zaidi?
Didn’t he say after he signed with the Cubs that he wouldn’t have signed with SF even if they offered him $300m? And that was immediately after they won title #3.
Lester either re-signs with the cubs or retires. He’s already said he can’t see himself in another uniform.
Except those Red Sox years….
He implied for 2021 and possibly beyond.
Eh, for enough money, he’ll play. Magically, he’ll “do what’s best for my family”
He said the same thing when he was with the red sox, that he couldn’t imagine another uniform… then he was traded, and, he stayed.
Likeliest landing spots:
Chicago if there isn’t more money out there.
Boston to return where he started and loved playing.
Atlanta where he and his family have their permanent residence.
With the recent deals Atlanta is PROBABLY off the table, but they’ve done crazier things.
Not surprised the Giants are willing to throw money at a once-a-great-now-past-his-prime pitcher. Hopefully they won’t overpay this time.
They haven’t done this since Bobby Evans was in charge. Their pitching signings in the Zaidi era have been great, actually, as Pomeranz, Smyly, and Gausman all did well enough to get decent sized contracts in the market after their season in SF.
Wait 8 months. Two of those three might prove Expos correct.
We don’t know that this is a “throw money” kind of deal. Maybe they figure they can land him on the cheap since he’s old and coming off a down year.
There is a reason they’ve booked 4 consecutive below .500 losing seasons
This move would only make sense if their rotation was mostly filled out, similar to when they got Tim Hudson in 2014. But as of now our only established starters are Cueto (who was awful) and Gausman (who’s inconsistent).
I can’t see signing Lester as making any sense. He’ll be 37 and hasn’t been good for years. I’m sorry Charlie Morton’s off the board (though I think he preferred the East Coast), but I think SF can get someone better, although there’s not much out there. I’m hoping they can swing a deal for Carlos Carrasco—but not sure how much Cleveland would want.
@Pete, I agree, the notion of signing Lester is unpalatable. Great career, but he’s over the hill. I’d like to see the Giants pick up Brad Hand for some BP help and trade for Snell to upgrade the rotation. Referencing yesterday’s discussion (@ Sign) the Giants could send Bart and a few low level prospects to Tampa for Snell, sign Hand, and be done with pitching upgrades for 2021.
Age 37 season…. eh…. seems more like he either (1) returns to Boston for his retirement tour, (2) returns to Chicago on a dirt cheap deal or (3) rides off into the sunset. I like Lester a lot for his contribution to the game and the his amazing bout and beating cancer, but he’s a one-year guy, low value, and maybe give the back end of your rotation some stability. Personally, I hope he returns to Boston for the retirement tour, gets a nice little payday, and gets a rousing round of applause for his good career.
Sorry, He’s Not injured enough for the Giants to Sign him. They ONLY sign Has Beens, and Injured Players !!
Yeah, you’re right. Gausman, Flores, Solano, Yaz, and Dickerson are all has beens. What a relevant take.
The San Francisco Giants…haha
The laughing stock of the NL West
Troll.
Hoyer has been the GM the entire time in Chicago. Not assistant GM. Theo was president. Jed was GM.
Love Lester, but he is done. Signing him would be a waste of money. Unless you want to try him as a reliever or something.
Seven wins away from 200. A real causality of the 60-game season. Still bitter the Sox low-balled Lester to then overpay Price not long after. Hope Lester has a great year.
Curious… if Lester DOES get to 200 wins, is he a HOFer?
Depends how much the voters feel wins/losses matter. When looking at an entire career, I feel they matter compared than looking at just a few seasons or comparing players. 200 wins is a nice milestone and looks pretty on a player’s resume, but it doesn’t really tell you how good a player was in their career. His 119 ERA+ is solid and is very close to Warren Spahn and Bert Blyleven, but both Spahn and Blyleven had around or above 100 WAR. Ron Gidury might be a good comp since they have similar ERA+ and innings pitched.
Lester’s career is better than average. And far below HOF.
HOF stats with Jaws are 2 clicks away via baseball reference
His JAWS is 39.6, which isn’t bad, but not good enough probably. The last starter to have a similar JAWS to make it into the Hall was Jack Morris, and his election is debateable. The players with less JAWS than Lester have black and white photos on Baseball Reference.
What’s his bOFA though?
I say yes, but I’ve always been a big Lester fan from back in the days of “Lester & Papelbon” arriving in Boston. Curt Schilling might be an interesting comparison this year in terms of postseason importance – Lester has nine postseason wins, four in the Series, with a 2.51. Schilling has 11 postseason wins, four in the Series, with a 2.23. I know, the stat-heads think wins are junk, but I still love a pitcher that wins his own games.
Wins have so much to do with runs support and bullpen that i really do not EVER see another pitcher with 300 wins !!!!
Sale left seven games with leads his first year with the Red Sox that he ended up getting no decisions on. That would have taken his win total from 17 to 24.
Wins matter, but sometimes they give a incomplete picture of how good a pitcher is. I remember the year Clemens won 21 for the RS with an ERA under 2, whereas Welch won 27 for Oakland with an ERA around 2.70 and Welch won the CyYoung even thought Clemens had by stats (strike outs, era, whip….). IMO Clemens should have won that year.
The HOF will need to change how it looks at pitchers or there will never be another elected…
No. Hall of the Very Good.
Hall of Really Good.
So some starting pitcher has a career era of 1.50, pitches for 15 years, and averages 13 wins per year because expansion has thinned out bellpens to the point where his team gives up leads. He ends his career with 195 wins and the lowest era ever and he is average because he did not get 200 wins???? I disagree
Please come home to Boston
This surprises me a bit, but it’s not unusual to see teams being interested in a guy and nothing coming of it.
I think better possibilities are his returning to the Cubs, or going to the Braves. One of the reasons he signed with the Cubs was to be closer to his home in Georgia. The Braves make more sense than the Red Sox since they’ll be contenders. I can’t see him going to Boston simply for emotional reasons, just to play out his career, when they aren’t going to contend in 2021.
Lester has rings. He has money. At this point, he knows his career is winding down.
Atlanta is nice, close to home, but has already brought in two SP in free agency. Unless the money is cheap it’s a lot less likely to get a third.
Boston is intriguing for several reasons. 1) there’s the emotional side, which counts at the end of a career. 2) a nonstop flight on delta to atl near his house is only a couple hours. 3) there’s young talent coming up in Houck and Mata that he could help mentor with Chris Sale.
I wouldn’t count a return to the fens out if bloom is interested
I really like what Lester did with the Cubs. He’s had a wonderful career. However, age is simply catching up with him. Not sure how he can help a team like the Giants other than to fill out the rotation. Would rather take a chance with a younger player from their system to get some experience. It’s unlikely the Giants make the post season in 2021 with the Dodgers and Padres. So, give a younger guy a chance like Seth Corry or Sean Hjelle.
Cubs GM:
The only reason I see the Giants being interested is as a veteran presence that can mentor young pitchers, in addition to eating innings at the back end of the rotation. I think Corry and Hjelle aren’t ready to face ML hitters just yet.
I respectfully disagree with you regarding “mentor young pitchers”. It simply doesn’t work that way in the real world. Weather we are talking sports, business or academics. It’s not realistic to expect a new, veteran guy like Lester coming over to a new team and have the expectation that Lester will connect and establish himself as a mentor with players he doesn’t know. These things take time. If that’s a plan moving forward hire Lester as a position coach. Lester, from his time with the Cubs was more a silent leader who simply let his actions on the field do the talking. Besides, the Giants have veterans Gausman and Cueto already on board to mentor young players.
This is hot air. Like him or not, Farhan Zaidi isn’t stupid. Thrifty, yes, but not dumb.
Lester’s 2020 ERA and FIP are almost identical (5.16, 5.14) meaning he is who we think he is. Giants would be better served by running out Conner Menez next year and continuing to wait for Logan Webb to blossom.
Bunch of other pitchers make more sense on 1 year deals. This is click bait fodder. Lester had a great career and should ride off into the sunset and spend more time with his family.
A 5 FIP is an upgrade in what the Giants were using as a 4-5 starter last season
It’s not about Zaidi being thrifty, dumb, etc..
The Giants FO are cheap and always have been…
I mean, why not? Get a back of the rotation innings eater. If he puts up numbers similar to what he had in 2019, he’ll be just fine. The Giants aren’t probably going to be in it in 2021 so might as well have someone who can soak up some innings.
The other connection the Giants have to Lester is their GM, Scott Harris, who came from the Cubs. Lester is fine as a #5 SP, esp on a young staff.
Giants still trying to win the 2011 and 2013 World Series I see.
Every offseason headline “Giants have interest in guys who used to be good 5 years ago, and will likely overpay for them”
Exactly
Lester is done.
2017 ERA 4.33
2018 ERA 3.32
2019 ERA 4.46
2020 ERA 5.16
His K/IP rate since 2017 has gone downhill
sure he might get 170 IP but the quality is NOT there!
I figure even in SF his ERA would be similar to 2019 and ever decreasing K rate has potential for worse. I hope Giants look elsewhere.
Total Giants move
Not bad. I’d take him over Happ.
I see one year 5 million getting it Done
Just ecstatic Lester is not a Brave !
Well, not yet, so I’d save the celebration for when he signs elsewhere.
I don’t see Lester going west and with the Braves signing Morton and Smyly i think he either gors back to Boston, maybe the Rays, or retires.
Rsox. Do you have inside information?
Rsox:
You may be partly right. I was thinking the Braves for Lester forgetting they signed Smyly. And now that they have Morton, I don’t see lester going there. I don’t see him going to the Sox though.
At this point I think it’s Cubs. Normally I’d think it would be them or retirement. But with so many teams needing pitching he could conceivably sign anywhere, but I think anywhere would also need to be with a reasonable contender.
People are commenting here like this is somehow a fact. 1-in-a-thousand rumors has a tinge of reality. Of course, hard90 is so stupid he’ll believe anything. The guy is so gullible. No wonder he has a 100 aliases.
He turned the Giants offer when he was a Red Sox free agent. The team should forget him and get someone who could actually help.
I’m here for it, veteran leadership, would eat innings, he might want to catch on with a contender tho,