He's 30... and Scherzer will be 30 by the time he hits free agency too.

The first season of the contract would begin at 31 years old.
Still, he'll prob have 2-3 solid seasons and be shit for 2-3 years (whatever the contract is)

Let's also ignore the fact that he's a lefty pitching in the most RHB friendly stadium in baseball. Also that he's pitched in the toughest division in baseball(this year notwithstanding). There's two lefties better than Lester right now and that's Kershaw and Price. And you can make the argument that Lester is better than Price.

He's lost about a tick off his fastball over the last 4 seasons. Plus it's not even like he's a guy that dominates people with his fastball. His cutter is his best pitch and he's a Sinker/Cutter/Curveball guy just like Andy Pettitte was. Andy seemed like he could pitch until he was 50.

Lester's also been an absolute workhorse his entire career(200+ IP in 5 of his last 6 seasons) and is well on his way to another 200+ IP season.

That's exactly what worries me. He's bound for an injury soon.
I'm more concerned about the # of years and not really the $$
I don't want to have him perform for half his contract. Some contracts in baseball really kill teams.

This post was edited by ZxFamily-GuyxZ on Jul 16 2014 05:57pm

I'd take Sale over Lester at this point.

Bah, yeah I'd definitely take Sale too. Sale is a top 5 pitcher.

I just don't think hell perform at the same level as other 25mil per year guys. He's too hot and cold throughout the year. Reminds me a lot of cc sabathia from like 2 years ago and that isn't turning out great atm.

That makes Lester not a top-3 lefty.

Borderline top 3. You could argue Lester is better than Price. There's not enough of a difference in skill level between the two to warrant an argument.