A's acquire Lester and Gomes for Cespedes

brett05

867-5309
Joined:
Apr 28, 2009
Posts:
27,226
Liked Posts:
-1,272
Location:
Hell
Who said the Cubs are the front runners for Lester?
 

Mitchapalooza

Guest
Anyone think the red sox get him back? That would be so epic
 

SilenceS

Moderator
Staff member
Donator
Joined:
Apr 16, 2013
Posts:
21,688
Liked Posts:
9,497
So then the Cubs would be front runners for Lester? Would they dare go after Maeda, too? If the Yankees get involved, they would pay more than the Cubs. Wouldn't they be considered the landing spot. They need a retooled pitching staff, don't they?

To early on Maeda, have to see where the market has him. He is no where near Darvish or Tanaka type of talent. More like a 3ish/4ish. He is only 6' and a 160 pounds. He is 25, but doesnt have really a plus pitch. His fastball would be his best pitch and his secondary pitches are average.
 

SilenceS

Moderator
Staff member
Donator
Joined:
Apr 16, 2013
Posts:
21,688
Liked Posts:
9,497
Anyone think the red sox get him back? That would be so epic

Possible, he really likes Boston but if history tells us anything. It is extremely unlikely.
 

brett05

867-5309
Joined:
Apr 28, 2009
Posts:
27,226
Liked Posts:
-1,272
Location:
Hell
Money wise and the Theo connection. We would have to be up there.

Up there, but not the front runner. That would be Boston and in this case by quite a lot since he has come out publicly saying he wants to go back.
 

brett05

867-5309
Joined:
Apr 28, 2009
Posts:
27,226
Liked Posts:
-1,272
Location:
Hell
Possible, he really likes Boston but if history tells us anything. It is extremely unlikely.

I'd almost say more than likely. When a player says they want to go somewhere they usually do. This is a different test case though. I do not recall anyone ever saying, no worries, trade me and I'll be back in two months.
 

SilenceS

Moderator
Staff member
Donator
Joined:
Apr 16, 2013
Posts:
21,688
Liked Posts:
9,497
I'd almost say more than likely. When a player says they want to go somewhere they usually do. This is a different test case though. I do not recall anyone ever saying, no worries, trade me and I'll be back in two months.

Eh, at the end of the day its business. People say a lot of things until they see the money.
 

brett05

867-5309
Joined:
Apr 28, 2009
Posts:
27,226
Liked Posts:
-1,272
Location:
Hell
Eh, at the end of the day its business. People say a lot of things until they see the money.

Agree, the problem the Cubs have right now is that they have like a 20% surcharge issue. Meaning a top tier FA gets offered $100 million by a competitive team for say 5 years. The Cubs needs to offer $120 to have the same "woo" That disappears once they start winning.
 

Captain Obvious

CCS Donator
Donator
Joined:
Jul 31, 2010
Posts:
4,967
Liked Posts:
700
So, I am guessing you only consider like 4 people in the league an Ace? Cause not many have done what Lester has done. Your off on this. He will be paid like a number 1 because he is a number 1. No, he is not King Felix or Kershaw because they are the best of the best.

What constitutes a number 1?

Since 2008, there have been 155 pitchers with more than 500 innings. Lester ranks 29th in ERA. The only ones above him who have higher walk rates are Lincecum and Darvish. He ranks 25th in FIP. He has the 7th highest fWAR, but it is mainly based on FIP. Fangraphs for his career has him worth 34 wins, while bWAR has him worth 16.6. I think that that is a lot closer to being accurate than 34.

Since 2008, the pitchers that had higher fWAR are Verlander, Cliff Lee, King Felix, Kershaw, Greinke, and CC. All of those are much better than Lester. The pitchers close to him behind him in fWAR are Halladay, Hamels, Wainwright, Jered Weaver, Scherzer, Haren, Lincecum, and Shields.

Lester just isn't an ace. He's going to get paid like one though because he has been ridiculously good this year. Which is why I want us to stay away because he is going to command more than what he is worth and overpaying is never a good idea.
 

DewsSox79

CCS Donator
Donator
Joined:
Apr 24, 2010
Posts:
29,061
Liked Posts:
7,246
So, I am guessing you only consider like 4 people in the league an Ace? Cause not many have done what Lester has done. Your off on this. He will be paid like a number 1 because he is a number 1. No, he is not King Felix or Kershaw because they are the best of the best.

this. CO you love FIP...remember how that worked out for you with Randy Wells.

lester is an ace. he may not be the flashy elite, consistent number 1 but he is still an ace. projections are what they are, projections. to boldly state "regress to the mean" has been well over used in the last 4 years.

lester is an ace. period.
 

Boobaby1

New member
Joined:
Apr 18, 2013
Posts:
2,236
Liked Posts:
1,180
this. CO you love FIP...remember how that worked out for you with Randy Wells.

lester is an ace. he may not be the flashy elite, consistent number 1 but he is still an ace. projections are what they are, projections. to boldly state "regress to the mean" has been well over used in the last 4 years.

lester is an ace. period.

I'd take him to start game 1 in any playoffs. I'd also take him and be well ahead of the game considering Samardzija would have probably cost north of 100 million, and I have two good prospects in the system, with one of them probably being my long term SS.

It would be like at the minimum staying the same, to possibly upgrading Shark, and getting the prospects to boot.
 

Parade_Rain

CCS Donator
Donator
Joined:
Aug 23, 2012
Posts:
9,995
Liked Posts:
3,630
My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Illinois Fighting Illini
I would guess that the Yankees will be involved in the courtship of Lester this off-season. Money talks.
 

SilenceS

Moderator
Staff member
Donator
Joined:
Apr 16, 2013
Posts:
21,688
Liked Posts:
9,497
What constitutes a number 1?

Since 2008, there have been 155 pitchers with more than 500 innings. Lester ranks 29th in ERA. The only ones above him who have higher walk rates are Lincecum and Darvish. He ranks 25th in FIP. He has the 7th highest fWAR, but it is mainly based on FIP. Fangraphs for his career has him worth 34 wins, while bWAR has him worth 16.6. I think that that is a lot closer to being accurate than 34.

Since 2008, the pitchers that had higher fWAR are Verlander, Cliff Lee, King Felix, Kershaw, Greinke, and CC. All of those are much better than Lester. The pitchers close to him behind him in fWAR are Halladay, Hamels, Wainwright, Jered Weaver, Scherzer, Haren, Lincecum, and Shields.

Lester just isn't an ace. He's going to get paid like one though because he has been ridiculously good this year. Which is why I want us to stay away because he is going to command more than what he is worth and overpaying is never a good idea.

Everything you just wrote says he is a number 1.
 

Captain Obvious

CCS Donator
Donator
Joined:
Jul 31, 2010
Posts:
4,967
Liked Posts:
700
this. CO you love FIP...remember how that worked out for you with Randy Wells.

lester is an ace. he may not be the flashy elite, consistent number 1 but he is still an ace. projections are what they are, projections. to boldly state "regress to the mean" has been well over used in the last 4 years.

lester is an ace. period.

Because you say so?
 

Captain Obvious

CCS Donator
Donator
Joined:
Jul 31, 2010
Posts:
4,967
Liked Posts:
700
this. CO you love FIP...remember how that worked out for you with Randy Wells.

lester is an ace. he may not be the flashy elite, consistent number 1 but he is still an ace. projections are what they are, projections. to boldly state "regress to the mean" has been well over used in the last 4 years.

lester is an ace. period.

I'm saying that fWAR weights it too heavily. That's my whole point as to why Lester isn't an ace.
 

SilenceS

Moderator
Staff member
Donator
Joined:
Apr 16, 2013
Posts:
21,688
Liked Posts:
9,497
He has had one bad year. He is the definition of a 1. No he is not a top 5 pitcher in the game but he is a guy anyone would give the ball to on any day. The definition of a number 1
 

Top