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Even when Lester was traded, he maintained that he would take a hometown discount to return to Boston. Cherington screwed up certainly, but Lester showed that he didn't care about the team by just going off to Chicago when they offered him the biggest deal. It's the same thing that happened with Ellsbury last year and Damon back in 05. I don't like players who leave the team in search of big money deals. Team loyalty should actually mean something.
Loyalty is a two way street, when the BoSox offered basically half of what they knew he was worth on the open market, they were basically telling him that his "hometown discount" should be a significant deal for the team. Had they initially offered something more reasonable, like 5 @ 110 or 6 @ 125, that is what players mean when they say "hometown discount". They don't mean, "hey, I am willing to take half of what I can get elsewhere just to stay here". Think hard about this, Cherington is the one who screwed Boston fans. You can hate Lester all you want, but you need to wake up to the realities of how free agency works. If I had a talent that I could get 25M a year for, I wouldn't take 17.5M, even though 17.5M is a significant amount of money. There are times that players, like LeBron, decide to take much less than they could get elsewhere, but only if doing so is in their self interest, such as going to a team that they believe has a better chance of winning. Lester looked at what was happening in Chicago, and what was happening in Boston and a couple of other teams, and I think that he saw an opportunity in Chicago that he didn't see elsewhere, PLUS the money.
Lester looked at what was happening in Chicago, and what was happening in Boston and a couple of other teams, and I think that he saw an opportunity in Chicago that he didn't see elsewhere, PLUS the money.
Or maybe Chicago is where Lester's wife likes to shop.
Lester looked at what was happening in Chicago, and what was happening in Boston and a couple of other teams, and I think that he saw an opportunity in Chicago that he didn't see elsewhere, PLUS the money.
I think he figured that in Boston he would be completely overshadowed by Panda-Mania. Lester is the more valuable asset, but unlike Sandoval he has never developed a nickname to make him more colorful and popular with the fans. Now if he had been known as Lester the Molester or maybe Jon "Hannibal" Lester, he would be in a position to compete pr wise with Pablo and could be on the same club.
Of course if you think about pro baseball for what it actually is, one more entity competing for our entertainment dollars, Boston has the better deal with Sandoval. A typical Panda at bat is more entertaining than watching Lester get batters out. His "Never met a pitch I didn't like" approach to the strike zone makes Pablo's plate appearances game highlights.
It's pretty funny to see fans of the Red Sox, an organization which routinely outspends most of the others to obtain free agents, whine about "loyalty" when things don't go their way.
Reds have traded away 40% of their rotation. I guess they still have big hopes for Cingrani, but unless Bruce/Votto/BP all have big comeback years, Reds are front runner in race for NLC cellar.
Milwaukee hasn't done a danged thing at winter meetings, so seems they won't be too far behind.
In addition to Hanley Ramirez signing with the BoSox, the Dodgers just traded Gordon, Haran and apparently they are about to ink a deal trading Kemp to the Padres. They acquire Howie Kendrick (2B) from the Angels; Jimmy Rollins (SS) from the Phillies; and infielders Enrique Hernandez, Chris Hatcher, and minor leaguer Austin Barnes from Miami.
Dodger fans are in a state of mass debate. Many are t'd off about losing Kemp and Gordon. Some say that it makes sense as it improves our infield and gets rid of some massive contracts.
I could totally understand letting Ramirez go along with Haran. But Gordon has been improving steadily since the last two years. He was an all-star last year. His second half of the season wasn't great, but he was on fire the first half and last year was his first full year. I can see him breaking out next year.
As for Kemp, he battled injuries in 2012 and 2013 but last year he remained healthy all season. He broke out post all-star game as one of the hottest bats in the majors (which is a perfectly normal indicator of a player who comes back from an injury).
That the Red Sox were so willing to send Cespedes to Detroit shores up my conclusions regarding why the A's were willing to let him go for a few months of Lester. Cespedes is operating at his absolute ceiling, he is never going to get better, he is never going to develop plate discipline, his raw talent is it.
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