Cubs May be Willing to Offer Seventh Year to Land Lester

When it comes to Jon Lester, the Cubs badly want to beat out Boston for the veteran lefty’s services.

However, do they want Lester badly enough to offer up a seventh year? It’s being discussed, from what I’ve been told, but no confirmation yet it’s going to be on the table.

Apparently, the Cubs are considering an offer to Lester with a vested seventh year if he were to accumulate 360 innings combined in the potential fifth and sixth years of the deal. It seems the Cubs are fully aware that they are going to have to blow Lester a way to prevent him from going back to Beantown.

Would a seventh year seal the deal?

Keep in mind the Cubs were willing to offer Russell Martin a vested fifth year, but that did not get that particular deal done.

Meanwhile, it seems the entire pitching market is on hold until Lester chooses his destiny.

If the Cubs really want to trump Boston, they may have to offer the seventh year without any strings attached. As badly as the Cubs want to make this happen, they also don’t want to put the team in a stranglehold with a bad deal either.

Yet, the flipside could be making a trade, in which you may give up a top prospect that could come back to haunt you much more then an additional year on a contract.

There could be some resolution on this matter prior to the Winter Meetings, as most expect.