Cubs President of baseball operations Theo Epstein has bagged the team star pitcher Jon Lester with a $155 million 6 year contract. The largest contract in team history sees the free agent Lester poached from the Boston red Sox.
Previously, the biggest deal that the Cubs had ever given a player was an 8 year $136 million one to infielder Alfonso Soriano. The Red Sox had tried to keep Lester with a $135 million offer for 6 years.
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The 30 year old left handed pitcher was also aggressively sought after by the San Francisco Giants. After signing on the dotted line Lester tweeted, “Extremely difficult decision for me and my family but we love the outcome and couldn’t be more excited to join the Cubs organization!”
The Cubs’ new manager Joe Maddon, who Epstein recently signed away from the Tampa Rays, couldn’t be happier. He said, “This definitely propels us into Plan A, which is kind of neat. It’s a big day for us, moving forward. It really brings a lot of different factors together. It’s very exciting.”
Both Theo Epstein and Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer worked with Lester previously when the two men were in the Red Sox organization. Maybe they will continue to try and bring over to Chicago all of the players left in the Majors from the two teams that they helped win World Championships while they worked there.
