Erik Matuszewski, Bloomberg
Jon Lester’s decision to join Chicago rather than return to Boston has pushed the Cubs’ odds of winning the World Series past those of the Red Sox.
Lester, the top free agent pitcher available this offseason, agreed to a six-year, $155 million contract that’s the largest in franchise history, according to MLB.com. The deal pays the 30-year-old left-hander an average of $25.8 million per year, the second-highest average annual value for a pitcher behind Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It’s been 106 years since the Cubs last won a World Series, the longest drought in Major League Baseball history, and Lester’s arrival has dropped the team’s title odds to 12-1, according to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.
“He’s a unique talent in today’s game,” Cubs new manager Joe Maddon said of Lester at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego. “It sort of sends out a message to the industry, that he would choose us.”
Only four teams — the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers — currently have better odds of winning the World Series than the Cubs, who hired Maddon last month after he left the Tampa Bay Rays. The Dodgers and Nationals have World Series odds of 7-1 at the SuperBook, followed by the Angels at 8-1 and the Tigers at 10-1.
Boston’s Odds
The Red Sox, with whom Lester spent nine seasons and won World Series titles in 2007 and 2013, are listed at 14-1, ninth among the 30 major-league teams. Boston was the other leading suitor for Lester, offering him a six-year contract that the Boston Globe said was worth $135 million.
“To Red Sox Nation, I understand the disappointment,” Lester said on his Twitter account. “Boston will always have a big place in my heart and we’ll always consider y’all family!”
The Cubs, after going a combined 127-197 with a pair of last-place finishes the past two years, are tied with the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals at 12-1. Their odds opened at 40-1 after last season, when they went 73-89, and were lowered to 18-1 before adding Lester, who has a career 116-67 record with a 3.58 earned run average.
The Cubs rebuilding is being overseen by president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, who was the Red Sox General Manager from 2003-11 and helped assemble the championship team that ended Boston’s 86-year World Series drought in 2004.
“Extremely difficult decision for me and my family,” Lester wrote on Twitter, “but we love the outcome and couldn’t be more excited to join the Cubs organization!”
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