Bob Lobel: Losing Lester

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

Lots of blame and angst going around on the Jon Lester escape to Chicago.  

Fact: He took the most money.

Fact: He gets to hit in the National League. 

Fact: Starting pitchers don’t pitch as many innings in the NL.

Fact: Expectations are quite low, since the Cubs never win. 

Fact: Starting pitchers don’t go deep anymore, and he does throw a lot of pitches. 

Fact: The Red Sox may have screwed it up, but we have to wait for that verdict.

We need to see what the Sox do to rectify the loss. After all, pitching aces aren’t what they used to be since the middle innings have become more important, and since closers have become Foulke heroes (see what I did there?). 



Number one aces guarantee nothing except higher salaries.

Ok, it is hurtful to be kicked to the curb by a multi-millionaire and believe it is your fault. It’s not easy being a fan.  

You have no juice. We make the critical mistake of falling in love with players like Lester. We get shafted like we did by these negotiations.

A guy makes 150 million dollars, and we go home and kick the dog. 

Look, Lester was a very good pitcher who was slow and refused to throw over to first base. When he was good he was very very good, one of the best in the American League. 

The Red Sox helped him make $150 million, and he helped them win two world championships. He now can be one of the best pitchers in the National League. 

True justice in this scenario would be Lester starting against the Red Sox as a Cub.  

Now that he is gone, bring that on!