Starting pitcher Jon Lester is among the hottest commodities on the MLB free-agent market this offseason, and there has been no shortage of buzz regarding teams with potential interest.
The 30-year-old southpaw spent parts of nine seasons with the Boston Red Sox and was named to the All-Star team on three occasions. He is also a two-time World Series champion and a proven commodity come playoff time.
It seemed as though Lester might be a member of the Red Sox for life, but his tenure came to an end prior to the 2014 trade deadline as he was dealt to the Oakland Athletics for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.
However, a reunion may be in the cards, as Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston passed along what he was hearing regarding Boston's interest in bringing back the star pitcher:
Lester was spectacular in 11 starts with the A's as he went 6-4 with a 2.35 ERA. With that said, it was apparent from the start that he was nothing more than a rental. After Oakland was eliminated in the American League Wild Card Game by the Kansas City Royals, Lester became a free agent for all intents and purposes.
Rumors and speculation started to pick up from there, but there was actually a great deal of talk about Lester's future immediately following his trade. Many were of the opinion that Lester's departure from Boston might only be temporary, including ESPN's Jim Bowden:
Rob Bradford of WEEI.com added some fuel to that fire by suggesting that Boston would be "aggressive" in its pursuit of Lester during the offseason.
Mostly, though, Lester's own comments led to speculation regarding a return to the Red Sox. Shortly after the trade to Oakland, Lester made it clear on The Hill-Man Morning Show on WAAF that he harbored no ill will toward the organization for a failure to reach an agreement on a contract extension, via Bradford:
I understood where the starting point was. It wasn't like they offered that and things stopped. The offer was closer to end of spring training so we had a little bit of time to negotiate, we used that time to the best of our ability and just couldn't come up with a deal from there. No, there's no animosity. There's no hatred or anything like that. Those guys didn't get to own the Boston Red Sox by being stupid and just starting at a point where you kind of laugh at them as far as too high or too low. They know what they're doing and that's how they wanted to start negotiations. But there are no hard feelings behind that.
In addition to that, Lester even said that the manner in which his time with the Red Sox ended would have no bearing on him considering signing with them during the offseason, according to the Boston Herald (h/t John DeMarzo of the New York Post:
My time there, the memories and all that stuff don't get erased based on this whole ordeal. I'm glad with where I'm at, and I understood where (Red Sox general manager) Ben (Cherington) was at. At the end of the season, it's not going to change my mind about going back there if they are aggressive and competitive and do the things they say they're going to do. Boston is definitely a place I would go.
Lester's history of success in Boston is something that no other team can offer, but there is no doubt that there will be several other teams in the hunt for him.
Legitimate aces don't become available too often, and Lester has certainly established himself as exactly that over the years. There isn't a team in the league who wouldn't benefit from his services, so it will be interesting to see how the bidding war plays out.
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