Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe reports that a couple of baseball executives think the Pirates could get in on the Jon Lester trade talks.
A couple of baseball executives think the Pirates may get into Jon Lester trade talks with Red Sox.
— Nick Cafardo (@nickcafardo) July 29, 2014
Ken Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox are open to dealing Lester and John Lackey “for the right returns.”
Source: #RedSox open to trading BOTH Lester and Lackey for right returns.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2014
The “for the right returns” part is probably a key, although it’s also kind of expected, since no team deals a player for the wrong return. Prior to Cafardo’s tweet, we haven’t really heard that the Pirates might be interested in Lester. They scouted his game the other night against the Rays, although that game also featured David Price, so the Pirates scouts could have just been focusing on one team. It’s also possible they were focused on both starters.
I estimated Lester’s trade value the other day, pointing out that he’d be worth $12.9 M in the current market. That would be a top 51-100 hitting prospect and a Grade C pitcher, or a 51-100 pitching prospect and a Grade B hitter. That doesn’t sound like much compared to the prices for other starters, but you’re also getting Lester for only two months.
