Yahoo is reporting that "a source close to the team" says the Red Sox have agreed with Jon Lester on a five-year, $30 million contract extension.
The deal also includes a $13 million team option for 2014 and is contingent on Lester passing a physical Tuesday.
So this winter, Boston has locked up Lester for five years, Kevin Youkilis for four years, and Dustin Pedroia for six years for a total of $111 million -- or roughly 2/3 of what the Yankees will pay 300-pound pitcher CC Sabathia for eight years. Toss in the low-risk, high-reward signings of John Smoltz and Brad Penny and this has been a magnificent winter for Theo Epstein.
Don't forget my man Saito! He'll be a clutch signing in the pen this season.
ReplyDeleteI'm worried because the big stories of failure always have a first chapter of high expectations.
ReplyDeleteAndy, you referring to high expectations for Smoltz, Penny, Saito? What's great about them is that if they do fail, the losses are so limited. If a CC or Texieria or AJ Burnett (or...A-Rod) gets a chronic injury, the lost investment is a long-term blow.
ReplyDeleteThere are high expectations across the media for all parts of this team. People are calling them ripened and ready to go on a 5 year run at the world series. I keep hearing this.
ReplyDeleteLester's essentially getting this extension based entirely around his 2008 season and his last start of 2007 (which, for the record, were both magnificent); he's certainly not getting paid based on his astoundingly frustrating '06 and only somewhat less frustrating '07 regular season. Pitchers are always hard to rely upon from year to year, even the best of them, so there's no real telling if we'll get another '08 from Jon. Still, if we get 200 IP at a 124 ERA+ every season for the contract's duration, I'm entirely cool with this deal. If we get '08 over and over, then it's one of the best deals of Epstein's career. And that's saying something.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Allan in that Epstein's had himself a fantastic offseason. He locked up the home-grown major contributors for reasonable prices and reasonable contract lengths. Not too many millstones around the neck of THIS ballclub.
Lester's ERA+ have been 100, 104 and 144.
ReplyDeleteHe could regress, but we also see that he has figured out a lot of things and the issues that made us bang our heads against the wall appear to have disappeared.
We are getting Lester for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 for an average of only **$6 million** per season!
And he has financial security for his family
Everybody wins.
Everybody should check out Tony's blog: Every Bob Dylan Song.
ReplyDeleteA post on every Dylan song -- in chronological order. Tony plunged into Blonde on Blonde in December (and he's not out yet!), so I gotta remember to start checking in more regularly.
I'm looking forward to when Tony hits 1974 and Planet Waves. I like the (approximate) decade from 1973-81 more than any other part of Dylan's career.
I'm worried because the big stories of failure always have a first chapter of high expectations.
ReplyDeleteEverything in baseball starts out with high expectations - the failures and the successes.
It's March. Not time to worry yet!
Supposedly Lester's working on adding his changeup, so there's reason to hope he won't regress as much as he might otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the plug, Allan! It's a hell of a compliment from you, believe me. And I'm just as excited to get to '74 as you are.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin, I'm excited to hear that Lester's working on a change. And there's one thing I totally forgot about re: Lester - he's 25. Twenty-five!
andy said...
ReplyDeleteI'm worried because the big stories of failure always have a first chapter of high expectations.
What does this mean.......
When was the last time we saw a starter from our system make it with the red sox. long term, Clemens right....everyone always gets goo goo ga ga over big free agent signings that someone else developed.....Lester is , and is going to continue to be, a stud.
This team is being built with with great ballplayers and what seems to me as good people as well.I'm giddy because my son gets to grow up with guys like , Yook, FY, Lester and Ellsbury, and Pap....guys who get it and are proud to be Red Sox.....
I must say that usually I get worried before successes. I was nervous before 2007. What is forgotten by me is how fucking good our guys are. Youk and DP are not holes in that USA lineup. They hold their own. It's hard to believe that we were getting excited about them when they were in the minors.
ReplyDeleteI also remember people trying to explain why youk would not be a power hitter. I'm just not seeing it.
ReplyDeleteTheo and the Sox are becoming the model for running a successful team. Yes, I understand that they tend to toss around the money a little more than most but they have made some great investments this off-season (Youk, Fuck Yeah, and Houdini) and, as redsock points out, the low-risk, high-reward signings are pluses, too. There are no guarantees, as andy states, but you have to like the odds.
ReplyDeleteOh, and... Go USA! A pair of RBI from Pedroia and Youkilis last night while the latter also crosses the plate four times. Sox representin'!
I hope Youk and Pedroia hit homers off of Dice K in the final.
ReplyDeleteLester and Lowell will see action this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteEr, nevermind; Lowell's tomorrow.
ReplyDelete