Although the Red Sox have expressed serious interest in acquiring left-hander Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston has reportedly turned down a number of offers for the ace. Does this almost guarantee the return of Jon Lester?
According to Nick Cafardo, Boston's interest in Hamels does not exceed their willingness to part ways with valuable prospects. Phillies' general manager Ruben Amaro wants three top prospects for Hamels and not one team has even considered surrendering such a return since trade talks have opened during the first half of the 2014 season. The Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and others have talked to the Phillies about a trade, but nothing has been close.
The Red Sox are viewed as the top destination for Hamels right now given their young talent and serious need of a starting pitcher. Boston has Mookie Betts, Garin Cecchini, Xander Bogaerts, Christian Vazquez, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Brock Holt currently on the roster, who would be solid additions for a team looking for young potential. However, the fact that team has turned down offers for Hamels means that Amaro is still asking for too much in return, which the Red Sox see as a burden on top of paying out the remaining $96 million over four years on the left-hander's contract.
Would they rather just pay Jon Lester a contract in excess of $100 million and not have to give up any prospects?
It looks like that could be the case because Lester is meeting with the Red Sox's ownership group on Tuesday, which will be the second time the two sides have met since last week at the general managers meetings. WEEI 93.7 FM reported news of the meeting on Monday afternoon and then followed up with a report that Lester will be meeting with the Braves later this week. It's also been known the left-hander will be meeting with Theo Epstein and the Cubs after he visits Boston. But according to Peter Gammons, Chicago believes Lester is going to return to Boston, which is significant because Epstein, Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer and executive Jason McLeod all previously worked in the Red Sox organization.
Gammons also noted that Lester's representation is waiting to see if the New York Yankees decide against their original offseason plan and throw some money at the left-hander. The question is, if the Red Sox offer Lester the years and money he wants, will he accept and not bother meeting with other teams?
ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes predicts a contract offer in the range of $130 million will get the Red Sox to land Lester. It's hard to believe Lester would turn down such an offer from the team he's spent the overwhelming majority of his career with.
