It was a short and sweet tweet from Ken Rosenthal...

 

 

Source: Lester to Cubs

 

It makes the most sense. The Cubs have built a potentially great offense, but they needed pitching. Yesterday it was Jason Hammel. Today, it's Jon Lester. 

 

Believed to be 6 years, $155 Million.

I knew he would get a lot but they'll end up regretting that contract in a few years. I guess he could flourish in the NL but jeez

It is no surprise. It is pretty much what everyone predicted. The last half of the contact might be a burden, but I expect Lester will do pretty well the next few seasons, especially pitching in the NL. Good for the Cubs.

I knew he would get a lot but they'll end up regretting that contract in a few years. I guess he could flourish in the NL but jeez

Or ownership and management have accepted it as the normal costs of doing business in Major League Baseball in 2014, aren't in it to accumulate the highest profit margin, and won't spend any time in the future regretting a move today.

Or ownership and management have accepted it as the normal costs of doing business in Major League Baseball in 2014, aren't in it to accumulate the highest profit margin, and won't spend any time in the future regretting a move today.

Yup!  Revenues at an all-time, why shouldn't the players get more rather than the owners continuing to rake in profits. It's not like the beer prices at Target Field have gone down....

Remember that the Cubs are also going to have a lot of young guys who aren't even arbitration eligible for the next three or four years. 

 

It will be interesting to see if Lester can be well above average for a starting pitcher for the next 2-3 years while they are developing and if he can still be a solid starter the last 3-4 years of the contract when they will be competing.

He's a lefty, so barring injury he'll likely always have some use.  I like him better than Scherzer over the next six years.  Still, he already lost 1 MPH off his fastball just last year and has thrown over 1.4K innings over the last seven years.  I wouldn't count on him being a front of the rotation arm much longer, he's going to be pretty average pretty quick.  His IP and velocity decrease looks like he's on the same arc as Justin Verlander but simply two years behind him.

Remember that the Cubs are also going to have a lot of young guys who aren't even arbitration eligible for the next three or four years. 

 

It will be interesting to see if Lester can be well above average for a starting pitcher for the next 2-3 years while they are developing and if he can still be a solid starter the last 3-4 years of the contract when they will be competing.

I think this is an underrated factor in building a team.  If you farm system is producing a steady supply of young players earning the minimum, it allows you to take on the occasional large contract with lower relative risk.  If the contract bombs, you budget isn't blown up because of the younger players.  If you are maxed out and they bomb, you are stuck.

Yup!  Revenues at an all-time, why shouldn't the players get more rather than the owners continuing to rake in profits. It's not like the beer prices at Target Field have gone down....

well according to this: http://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/list/ many teams are operating in the negative due to expenses (operating revenue) although I'm not sure if they account for merchandising and advertisment in these numbers

Remember that the Cubs are also going to have a lot of young guys who aren't even arbitration eligible for the next three or four years. 

 

It will be interesting to see if Lester can be well above average for a starting pitcher for the next 2-3 years while they are developing and if he can still be a solid starter the last 3-4 years of the contract when they will be competing.

 

That's the argument that I have been making for the Twins to spend some money. 

I was told repeatedly that no team that lost 90 games would ever go big for a pitcher. Guess that isn't true. Some teams do try to win.

So, Lester will end up with 6/155.  Scherzer is rumored to be looking for 7/200.  Lester is left-handed with a longer track record of success and only six months older.  Cubs may have gotten a "deal" here.

Remember that the Cubs are also going to have a lot of young guys who aren't even arbitration eligible for the next three or four years. 

 

It will be interesting to see if Lester can be well above average for a starting pitcher for the next 2-3 years while they are developing and if he can still be a solid starter the last 3-4 years of the contract when they will be competing.

My guess is Cubs management doesn't think it should take another 2-3 years to put a competitive team on the field. I'd guess they would view that as a failure.

Good move for the Cubs because of the reasons listed earlier in the thread.

 

It's pretty much a no-brainer for Chicago to pursue a deal of this type because of their MiLB/MLB team weaknesses and payroll capacity. They can afford three Jon Lesters and still only consume 1/3rd of their payroll ceiling.

Plus its been 100 years + since the Cubs won the World Series.  If they do that then its going to rain money in Chicago for a while. The Cubs can easily afford to go out and get another pitcher too if they wanted.  I am kind of surprised I don't here rumors of them going after Scherzer or Shields right now.

Edited December 10, 201411 yr by Brandon