Post by Rog on Jul 12, 2017 12:25:23 GMT -5
I don't know if Randy is reading here anymore, but I am posting this for him more than anyone.
"The Arm," which I'm about halfway through, has been many excellent stories in one, and one of the stories is Jon Lester's free agency, which Jon's free agency, which Jon was nice enough to let the author in on from the inside. Here are the facts with regards to the Giants:
. The Giants made the highest offer in terms of guaranteed money -- $168 million over seven seasons.
. The top two contenders were the Red Sox and Cubs, in part because both were half the plane time away from Lester's Georgia home.
. What put the Cubs over the top was that they got Jon intrigued about breaking baseball's longest drought and the opportunity to become involved in "the biggest celebration in baseball history."
. The Cubs' computer calculated the value of Lester's services as not to exceed $120 million, but they made an initial offer of $135 million with the plan of going to $150 million if necessary. Late-night negotiations over drinks -- at least one of which was spilled -- resulted in the Cubs raising their offer to $155 million -- with a $15 million option for a seventh year.
. The Red Sox's computer calculated Lester's value as being even less than the Cubs', but they also exceeded the computer's advice by tens of millions of dollars. But they weren't willing to go beyond $135 million iIRC.
The bottom line is that calling the Giants "cheap" in these negotiations was a wrong characterization.
One last thing. The Cubs made the deal realizing that Lester has a bone chip in his elbow, much like the case with Matt Cain when the Giants re-signed him.
"The Arm," which I'm about halfway through, has been many excellent stories in one, and one of the stories is Jon Lester's free agency, which Jon's free agency, which Jon was nice enough to let the author in on from the inside. Here are the facts with regards to the Giants:
. The Giants made the highest offer in terms of guaranteed money -- $168 million over seven seasons.
. The top two contenders were the Red Sox and Cubs, in part because both were half the plane time away from Lester's Georgia home.
. What put the Cubs over the top was that they got Jon intrigued about breaking baseball's longest drought and the opportunity to become involved in "the biggest celebration in baseball history."
. The Cubs' computer calculated the value of Lester's services as not to exceed $120 million, but they made an initial offer of $135 million with the plan of going to $150 million if necessary. Late-night negotiations over drinks -- at least one of which was spilled -- resulted in the Cubs raising their offer to $155 million -- with a $15 million option for a seventh year.
. The Red Sox's computer calculated Lester's value as being even less than the Cubs', but they also exceeded the computer's advice by tens of millions of dollars. But they weren't willing to go beyond $135 million iIRC.
The bottom line is that calling the Giants "cheap" in these negotiations was a wrong characterization.
One last thing. The Cubs made the deal realizing that Lester has a bone chip in his elbow, much like the case with Matt Cain when the Giants re-signed him.
