As the winter meetings heat up this week, one of the major targets for many teams is highly-coveted free agent left-hander Jon Lester as many clubs have shown interest in him.
Lester, 30, went 16-11 overall between the Red Sox and Oakland Athletics in 2014 and ranked fourth in the American League with a 2.46 ERA and fifth with 220 strikeouts in 32 starts.
The free agent southpaw, who is a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, is 116-67 in his nine-year career with a 3.58 ERA, 1.276 WHIP and 1,457 strikeouts.
Here are five possible destinations for Lester and reasons why he'd be a good fit:
Atlanta Braves: The Braves have shown interest in Lester, but may be out of the running since they aren't competing with the types of offers other clubs are giving. Still, Lester is a Georgia native and the team is hopeful he'd take a hometown discount to jump ship to the National League for the first time in his career. Atlanta is looking long-term right now, so a highly-priced deal for Lester is doubtful. Being a native of the area, Lester would be a solid ace for the Braves as they look to get back to the playoff pitcher, but it seems like a long-shot that the team will sign him.
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox have reportedly tabled an offer of over $130 million for Lester, but they have plenty of competition to land the free agent. Lester spent his entire career with Boston before being traded to the A's last summer marking the first time in nine years he wore another team's jersey. Lester's great memories of Boston could lure him back and the team seems more than willing to compete with other clubs as far as finances are concerned. Lester won two World Series titles with the Red Sox in 2007 and more recently in 2013 and has had three All-Star appearances as a member of the Red Sox. Lester also pitched his only no-hitter for Boston in 2009. A reunion between the two sides seems like a great possibility as Boston looks to escape from a last place finish in the AL East in 2014 and Lester could return to a place he's gotten to know for almost a decade.
Chicago Cubs: The Cubs have made it no secret that they want to start winning and that they're interested in landing Lester to lead the way. Chicago has been seen as a favorite to land Lester since free agency got underway and with a young core in place, the team realizes that bringing the southpaw in would fill a big piece of the puzzle. The Cubs traded away a good chunk of their starting pitchers last year, dealing Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the A's, and they could use Lester to shore up the rotation. Though, there are reports that Hammel is returning to Chicago. Lester's affiliation with former Red Sox GM and current Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein could also add to the factors in helping the lefty decide to sign with Chicago.
Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers are said to be interested in Lester, which would give them a rotation that consists of reigning NL MVP and Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, forming one of the most formidable starting corps in the MLB. Los Angeles has had plenty of success over the last few seasons, but hasn't been able to make a run to the World Series. Adding Lester to that dominant rotation would be a huge step in the right direction for L.A. and Lester would have to certainly think hard about the possibility of joining that dynamic group.
San Francisco Giants: The defending World Series champions had a rough start to free agency by losing third baseman Pablo Sandoval to the Red Sox, but they can make up for it by spurning Boston in the race for Lester. There are two reasons why the Giants would be a good fit for Lester as the southpaw is good friends with fellow Georgia native Tim Hudson and the Giants have a championship pedigree. San Francisco has won the World Series in three of the last five years, which certainly makes them an attractive option for Lester - especially after winning it all in 2014. The Giants would love to bring Lester in to form an unbelievable 1-2 punch in the rotation with the southpaw and Madison Bumgarner -- who had a breakout postseason en route to San Francisco's title victory.
Teams are lining up to sign Lester and while all five of these teams seem like solid options for the left-hander, it remains to be seen what uniform he dons on Opening Day 2015.
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