A Few Notes on Jon Lester

For those of you living in Siberia the past two months:

Jon Lester is a very good pitcher. He is most known for his time with the Boston Red Sox and was traded to the A's mid-season in 2014 in order to assist the A's in their aggressive (and failed) pursuit of a World Series Championship. 

Jon is a true ace and an asset all teams would love to have. The Cubs have made it very clear that they will pursue throughout his time in free agency. The Red Sox have always been thought to be the Cubs' biggest competition. Jon won two World Series there and his family is still in the area.

Okay, now for everyone, not just those with no background knowledge:

As mentioned, it was long thought that this was a two horse race between the Cubs and the Red Sox. Other teams showed some interest including the Braves (Lester was raised in Atlanta) and the Dodgers ($$$ need I say more?). However, last week the Giants were brought up, although most saw them as a non-threat.

Today Ken Rosenthal reported that Lester is deciding between San Francisco and Chicago. Shocking news to most who thought Boston was a clear favorite. Now, there have been contradictory reports to Rosenthal's, but Ken is a highly regarded baseball reporter and usually isn't wrong, so, for the sake of argument, let's assume his report is true. 

So, if it comes out that The Cubs have signed Jon Lester, be it tonight or tomorrow, here are my initial thoughts:

1) YES

2) HELL YES

3) Cubs are breaking The Curse and winning The Series!

4) Alright, calm down

 Lester is a true ace. the type of work-horse that can win us 20 games and will always give us a chance to win the game. 

 we just signed Jason Hammel (remember him) today and he is another nice arm in the rotation.

The rotation..... what will it look like? 

                                 1. Lester

                                 2. Arietta 

                                 3. Hammel/Hendricks

                                 4. Hendricks/Hammel

                                 5. Wada/Turner/Jackson/someone i may be forgetting because I don't                                       do research

Even with Lester our staff is still just okay. Arietta in the two slot is awesome. He may regress some, but he is a very good pitcher that most teams would love to have as a number two. Number three is where it gets tricky. The A's had Hammel coming out of their bullpen. He probably won't pitch as well as he did in Chicago the first half of last year. Hendricks had an awesome second half after being called up, but he will almost surely regress. Our 5 slot is a mess, Wada has the lowest floor and could be decent, but he has a low ceiling

But, dude, a true ace with all those young, powerful bats! 

Yes, young, powerful bats are awesome! But, we need to remember that these young guys have some learning to do. They aren't all going to be world-beaters next year. I think we still need to sign one more veteran, outfield bat, preferably someone who gets on base consistently. 

So, to summarize, IF IF IF IF the Cubs sign Lester that is a GREAT thing. However, I (all Cubs fans) still need to keep my expectations in check. Lester doesn't bring a World Series trophy automatically, hell, he doesn't guarantee we make the playoffs.

What Jon Lester does bring is a great arm, increased wins, and an increased chance to compete for the NL Central.