McCovey Chronicles - The Giants aren't getting Jon LesterWe want to continue to create opportunities for payroll flexibility.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50879/mcc-fav.png2014-12-10T08:13:39-08:00http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/rss/stream/71184922014-12-10T08:13:39-08:002014-12-10T08:13:39-08:00What should the Giants do now?
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<p>There will be no Jon Lester. Here are some of the alternatives for a team with money to fritter away.</p> <p>Jon Lester, you fool. You could have been caught by Buster Posey, who smells of success and nectarines. You could have played in front of sellout crowds who haven't been bullied by the punk kids of absentee baseball gods. You could have been somebody. You ... could have been a contender. You could have been a contender, literally <i>on the waterfront</i>.</p>
<p>As is, the Giants need to do something else. That's fine, that's cool. Horrixciting was the ™ word I coined, and I'm sticking with it. It would have been horrible in five years. For next season, though? Look, I don't know what a 30-year-old Brandon Belt is going to hit like, but I have a decent idea about what he's going to do next year. That goes for the rest of the roster. For as much sadness-tinged snark that I dish out regarding Angel Pagan's health, there's still a chance he turns in 300, 400, or 500 solid plate appearances. We know things about next year's team. It should be a good team. With some help.</p>
<p>With some help.</p>
<p>Our goal here is to find that help. The Giants have all sorts of different strategies they can pursue. If they were willing to offer $150 million to one player, why, they can sure spread that wealth around. Here's a thumbnail sketch of what the Giants might do:</p>
<h4>Stick with the premium pitching</h4>
<p>That would be Max Scherzer. Oh, he has an electric arm. And he's smart and interesting -- a good player to root for. He's also LOOKING FOR $200 MILLION AHHHHHH.</p>
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<p>Max Scherzer is seeking a guarantee of more than $200 million, which only one pitcher (Clayton Kershaw) has achieved in MLB history.</p>
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/542512047745794049">December 10, 2014</a>
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AHHHHHHHH</p>
<p>He might get it! He probably won't get it. If Lester gets $160 million, and Scherzer asks for $200 million, well, the odds are that there's some sort of compromise in the middle.</p>
<p>Still, Scherzer gives me the jibblies. What I <a target="New" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/11/19/7243969/max-scherzer-mlb-free-agent-rumors">wrote on the mothership</a>:</p>
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<p>He won the Cy Young (in 2013) and came fairly close this past season. Scherzer will make his next team much, much better, but it's worth remembering that we're about 30 months and 70 starts into the idea that Scherzer is this excellent.</p>
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<p>It wasn't that long ago -- back when Melky Cabrera was the All-Star Game MVP -- that Scherzer was still a complete enigma. A strikeout pitcher who couldn't prevent runs. We're here, now, and we've seen how good Scherzer can be.</p>
<p>If it costs you $200 million smackers, though, I can't abide. That's an extra $7 million every year, an extra setup man, an extra starting outfielder over what Lester was going to get. And Lester was already going to mess the budget up, and how.</p>
<p>I'm for other options.</p>
<h4>Someone a little cheaper than Lester, with additional support at 3B and/or LF</h4>
<p>A little cheaper means James Shields, more or less. I'm cuckoo for <a target="new" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/japan/player.cgi?id=maeda-001ken">Kenta Maeda</a>, but he might not get posted. We'll assume it's Shields or bust at this tier.</p>
<p>First thing to forget: The 2014 postseason. He was so danged good before that. Five starts do not a scouting report make. He's really, really good. Healthy. Consistent. And markedly cheaper than Lester.</p>
<p>If Shields is asking for $100 million (just a guess) and Chase Headley would take $50 million ... isn't that much better than one lousy ol' Lester? Yeah. Nuts to that guy. When you put it like that, I'm on Team Shields/Headley. That makes the Giants much better next year, and it might leave money for a Chris Denorfia type to help out in left.</p>
<h4>Mid-level starter, fancy offensive addition(s)</h4>
<p>Here be good ideas (Brandon McCarthy) and bad (Ervin Santana). With the extra cash, the Giants can explore the wild world of Melky Cabrera and/or Chase Headley. McCarthy/Cabrera/Headley is far, far preferable to one lousy Lester. The Giants are <i>winning the offseason</i>, don't you see?</p>
<p>Stupid Lester and his "life-altering decisions" and "consideration for his family." We'll remember this.</p>
<p>Seriously, though, this isn't a bad market for this strategy. It's not the best market, but there are some options. The Justin Upton/Chris Johnson package that's <a target="new">already been pooh-poohed</a> makes sense, here. Heck, take the pail of misery that is B.J. Upton to get his brother without giving up a dynamite prospect, I don't know. If the Giants have money but not a ton of places to spend it, maybe a bad contract packed with a win-now player isn't the worst idea.</p>
<p>Johnson is kind of miserable -- can't field well, hacks, strikeout rate going up up up, owed $23.5 million over the next three years -- but I would take a chance on him being an extra win above replacement at that price if it meant a year of Justin Upton. Hey, maybe Upton might even sign a big exte ...</p>
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<p><a href="https://twitter.com/walkinthewalk">@walkinthewalk</a> I hate going to SF. The ball travels like crap there</p>
— Justin Upton (@JUP_8TL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JUP_8TL/status/150355310584934400">December 23, 2011</a>
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<p>Or maybe it would be for just the one year.</p>
<h4>Cheap in 2015, wait for (David Price, Jordan Zimmermann, Mat Latos, Tim Lincecum)</h4>
<p>In this scenario, the Giants pocket the Sandoval savings, apply some of it to a starter (ugh, Santana) or outfielder (Melky!), but save the rest for the danged even year. There are good pitchers in that even year. The last two up there were a goof, but I'm very excited about Doug Fister. He gets hit in the face in World Series games and keeps pitching. He's so good.</p>
<p>In this zone, you have Jake Peavy. Maybe even Headley, still. That's a double-Padres-trolling extravaganza, and you get to pick your spots next year.</p>
<p>YEAH, YOU WEREN'T SO HOT, LESTER. YOU WEREN'T ALL THAT. sniff</p>
<h4>Yoan Moncada and others</h4>
<p>Here's something I could get behind. Pick up some pitching scraps (Edinson Volquez? idk) and get a cheap platoon outfielder ...</p>
<p><img target="new" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1204504/gomes-and-the-electric-x.gif"></p>
<p>Something like that. Then invest the rest in Yoan Moncada, who is getting Bryce Harper-levels of hype, even though there's <a href="https://sports.vice.com/article/the-weirdest-cuban-baseball-defector-story-youll-ever-read" target="_blank">so much we don't know about him</a>.</p>
<p>I'm the biggest bird-in-the-hand guy around, and I'm all about Giants punting 2020 if it means an extended run this year. But I love the idea of a guy like Moncada. Young, projectable, potentially franchise-changing. I'd be a fan. And, jeez, it's not like the Giants are seriously going to win the World Series next year.</p>
<p>I mean, that would be ridiculous.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Man, I want that so much.</p>
<p>Greed is such an incredible endorphin-releaser.</p>
<p>For now, all we know is that Jon Lester isn't a Giant. Fine. Good. WHATEVER. Here are some things they might do. Somehow, they all seem preferable. Sour grapes release endorphins, too. It's the dangedest thing.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/10/7365893/what-should-the-giants-do-nowGrant Brisbee2014-12-09T18:28:06-08:002014-12-09T18:28:06-08:00Giants out of Jon Lester race
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<p>The Giants were offering Jon Lester millions of dollars to pitch for them. He declined. </p> <p>The Giants are neither in nor out on Jon Lester. They are standing right in the middle of the doorway. This whole ordeal isn't Lester's fault -- he wants to end this -- but there the Giants are, neither in nor out. They aren't even talking to Lester. They're just screwing around on their phone, ignoring everyone.</p>
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<p>Giants are out on Lester.</p>
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<p>Or, <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/AlexPavlovic/status/542502568581013505">they're completely out</a>! Completely out. Bobby Evans said <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/enosarris/status/542499983153303552">they "did not receive a rose"</a> as they were eliminated from contention.</p>
<p>Thus endeth one of the strangest free agent sagas in recent memory. The bad news is the 2015 Giants probably won't be as good as they could have been. The good news: more rumors! So many rumors. Don't forget that an executive predicted Max Scherzer <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/jaysonst/status/539916976504975361">wouldn't decide on a team until March</a>. Good times, good times.</p>
<p>For now, though, the Giants are more likely to start the 2015 season with a worse rotation than they could have had, even if it would have come at a steep cost for the future. Lester had his problems -- being a living, breathing pitcher who wanted more than a two-year contract, mostly -- but he's been largely excellent over the last six seasons. Remember the Matt Cain who was awesome, the one we're hoping to see again after elbow surgery? Like that, but left-handed, and he just had one of his best seasons.</p>
<p>That written, we might look back at this day in 2018, when the Giants are announcing the $218 million contract extension that allows them to keep Matt Duffy, and say, "Boy, oh, boy. There's no way they could have done this if Lester were on the payroll." Six years is a long time. $156 is sure a lot of money. That's $26 million a year, or just a little more than the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/1989.shtml" target="_blank">entire 1989 Giants team</a>. If Lester went full Zito (or half-Lincecum, or even a quarter-Portugal), that's the kind of money that would ruin a future offseason. Contracts like that can pull teams completely out of the running for mid-market free agents who could really, really help a roster.</p>
<p>So, fine. Be that way. Didn't want you anyway, Lester. Enjoy your riches over there. Just remember: Who's got it better than us? Noooobody. Who's got it b</p>
<p>Whoops, wrong cheer. So very wrong. But you get the idea. The Giants aren't as good as they could have been, but they still have a chance to get better in the near and distant future now that the money is freed up. There's a Panda-sized wallet full of cash to spend. Onward, to the next rumor.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/9/7364867/giants-jon-lester-rumorsGrant Brisbee2014-12-09T13:18:49-08:002014-12-09T13:18:49-08:00Giants believe they're behind in Jon Lester race
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<p>Assistant GM Bobby Evans said on MLB Network Radio that he believes the Cubs and Red Sox are leading the pack, with one report suggesting it's going to be the Cubs. </p> <p>The Jon Lester race isn't over, but according to Bobby Evans, it looks like it might be for the Giants. Evans was on MLB Network Radio with Jim Bowden, and Bowden tweeted portions of the conversation.</p>
<p>1. Lester <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/JimBowden_ESPN/status/542420621431300096">isn't likely</a> to accept the highest offer on the table.</p>
<p>2. Bowden believes that Evans was indicating that both the <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/JimBowden_ESPN/status/542421225117470720">Dodgers and Giants were behind the Red Sox and Cubs in the race</a>.</p>
<p>Bob Nightengale <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/542424132755795970">described it as</a> the Giants being "in backseat of Lester sweepstakes but not driving the car." Hopefully the driver of the car hasn't been drinking, but I'm not optimistic about that.</p>
<p>The report yesterday was that Jon Lester was going to decide before Tuesday morning. You fool. I can't believe that you trusted that report. I mean, I did. I planned my evening and morning around it. But I can't believe that you trusted it. The word is that we might not even hear by the end of Tuesday:</p>
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<p>Bobby Evans also says they don't necessarily expect a Lester decision today. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SFGiants?src=hash">#SFGiants</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash">#Cubs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Redsox?src=hash">#Redsox</a></p>
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/542424412805283842">December 9, 2014</a>
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Over the Monster is <a target="new" href="http://www.overthemonster.com/2014/12/9/7362385/red-sox-jon-lester-free-agent-rumors-cubs">hearing that it's Cubs, Cubs, Cubs</a>, which is a drag if you were into the Lester bidding. The good news: It's probably not the Dodgers, either.</p>
<p>Fare thee well, Jon Lester. Sorry you hate success and sourdough bread.</p>
<p><i>Update</i>: Look, I have no idea.</p>
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<p>Giants Gm Brian Sabean still believes Giants are very much in on Jon Lester.</p>
— Nick Cafardo (@nickcafardo) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickcafardo/status/542439677215510528">December 9, 2014</a>
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They should just have a one-day auction. It would be bigger than the NFL Draft.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/9/7362609/giants-jon-lester-rumorsGrant Brisbee2014-12-08T19:25:41-08:002014-12-08T19:25:41-08:00Winter Meetings roundup, Day 1
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<figcaption>Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Giants are focused on Jon Lester. Forget about everything else until tomorrow. </p> <p>The Giants had a busy day at the Winter Meetings on Monday, calling Jon Lester's agents, receiving calls from them, sending texts, receiving texts ... you name it. But Lester is still being a jerk and holding up the entire market, just so he can watch it burst and sweep away hundreds of reporters in a river of hot rumors. I'd disapprove, except that's exactly what I would do, so I'll quietly nod in appreciation instead.</p>
<p>Brian Sabean gave a couple of quotes to the real reporters, who weren't sitting in the media room watching their lives scroll by in a TweetDeck chamber of despair while hoping for Jon Lester news, and here's what we've learned:</p>
<p> </p>
<h5>Everything is on hold<a href="https://twitter.com/AlexPavlovic/status/542145438426484736" target="new"> until Lester makes a decision</a>
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<p>Everything. No Melky. No Headley. No offers to anyone right now, other than Lester. We heard whispers that the Giants were "all in" on Lester recently. This is Sabean grabbing you by the sideburns and yelling the same thing directly into your ear. It's Lester first, plans b, c, and d after that.</p>
<p> </p>
<h5>Sabean believes<a href="https://twitter.com/JohnSheaHey/status/542146077193818112" target="new"> five teams are in on Lester</a>
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<p>They would be the Giants, Cubs, Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers, I would guess. It could be that Lester made his decision last week, but now we're in the final cash-grab-bonus round. I don't think I have an eighth of the Machiavellian DNA it takes to be a GM or agent.</p>
<p> </p>
<h5>The trade market for third base and left field is<a href="https://twitter.com/JohnSheaHey/status/542146891299827712" target="new"> more appealing than the free agent market</a>
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<p>Helllloooooo, Chris Johnson! Or Casey McGehee. Or someone completely awesome, like Ben Zobrist or Justin Upton. After looking at the post-Panda permutations, I agree wholeheartedly with Sabean. If it's not Headley or Melky -- both very flawed options -- it's the trade market that makes sense. I'm just not sure what players Giants have that a) they would give up and b) other teams would want.</p>
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<h5>Chase Headley<a href="https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/542139166293630977" target="new"> will make his decision before Friday</a>
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<p>Good. For the record: I'm all for both Lester and Headley. You only live once, as the kids say, and I have no idea what the 2016 or 2017 Giants will look like. All I know is they should be good next year. Better players will make them gooder.</p>
<p> </p>
<h5>Buster Posey<a href="https://twitter.com/JohnSheaHey/status/542153216301862913" target="New"> will not move to third</a>
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<p>This is because he's a catcher and a mighty fine one. The day will come. It will come and it won't surprise us when it happens. It will not come when he's 27. I'm enjoying the idea of an Andrew Susac/Posey rotation to keep everyone fresh, and you should too.</p>
<p>Unless Susac is traded for Noah Syndergaard. Or Marlon Byrd. Really, there are a lot of compelling and/or terrifying options. But everything's waiting on Jon Lester. Take your sweet time, sir. You get a chance to troll the world like this only once.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/8/7357859/giants-rumors-winter-meetings-jon-lesterGrant Brisbee2014-12-08T14:02:07-08:002014-12-08T14:02:07-08:00Lester choosing between Giants and Cubs?
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<p>Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Giants are finalists for the left-hander, with the Red Sox and Dodgers reportedly out. Others are disputing that, though. </p> <p>It's been something of a slow day at the Winter Meetings, with everyone waiting around for Jon Lester to make up his freaking mind. Once Lester signs, all of the other fastball-chucking dominoes can fall into place. He's close, everyone. And <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/542070354068258816" target="new">according to Ken Rosenthal</a>, he's choosing between the Cubs and the Giants.</p>
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<p>Sources: Barring late change, Lester choosing between #Cubs, #SFGiants.</p>
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<p>The Red Sox were supposedly the sentimental favorites heading into the offseason, with Lester expressing interest in returning before he even boarded the plane out of Boston. Unless there's a late change -- like, say, the Red Sox following Ken Rosenthal on Twitter and saying, jeez, maybe we need to try harder -- there were just two teams left standing.</p>
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<p>Lester agent Seth Levinson says idea of Red Sox being out and Giants, Cubs currently finalists "absolutely untrue"</p>
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) <a href="https://twitter.com/bradfo/status/542072252871626752">December 8, 2014</a>
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Oh, dammit. I give up.</p>
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<p>If Lester is choosing between Cubs and Giants, as <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal">@Ken_Rosenthal</a> is reporting, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RedSox?src=hash">#RedSox</a> saying they haven't been told as much</p>
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottLauber/status/542072190552662016">December 8, 2014</a>
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<p>At this point, the Dodgers are about to buy the Manchester Grand Hyatt, like Bruce Wayne in <i>Batman Begins</i>, and start making their own rules about what happens at the Winter Meetings. They're still lurking. Don't trust them.</p>
<p>Normally these kind of contradicting posts would mean the rumors are safe to ignore. Except here are two points:</p>
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<li>Ken Rosenthal sits upon rumor mountain in a golden throne made of rumors, and the other rumormongers present rumors to him and show fealty when he requests an audience. He's pretty good at this, and you know he didn't decide to tweet that lightly. <br><br>
</li>
<li>At the risk of parsing a typo, he put "sources," plural. Two sources = double the truth, imo.</li>
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<p>On the other hand, Lester's agent -- who seems like the sort of fellow who would know what's going on -- is quoted as saying it's absolutely untrue. Which seems definitive. Except the agents are smart enough to keep everyone thinking every other team has a chance. Drives the price up, it does.</p>
<p>I'm with Rosenthal, then. Lester has to choose between a team with a legacy of doom that needs several prospects to pan out before they contend, or a team that should contend next year and has a legacy of recent success. One place is really cold in the spring and smells faintly of Skip Bayless. The other place is beautiful and smells delightful, like me. It should be an easy choice, Jon. It should be an easy choice.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/8/7355873/jon-lester-rumors-giants-cubsGrant Brisbee2014-12-08T10:32:12-08:002014-12-08T10:32:12-08:00Lester decision coming soon, Posey makes pitch
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<p>"Pitch" is a baseball term, but it's also a sales term. Hopefully Lester will "catch" what Posey is ... wait, this is all backward.</p> <p>The Jon Lester derby is coming to a close, with a decision coming <a href="https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/542016914583609345" target="new">within the next day</a>. The Giants have been the future third-place finishers according to most scuttlebutt merchants, trailing behind the Red Sox and Cubs, with the Dodgers and their wheelbarrow of doubloons always a threat to destroy everything. No one counted on Buster Posey, though, pure of heart is he. Suddenly, the Giants might be the front runners.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/542016914583609345" target="new"> </a><a href="https://twitter.com/JimBowden_ESPN/status/541784048801026048" target="new">According to Jim Bowden</a>, Posey was a part of a Sunday night meeting with the Giants brass and Lester, attempting to convince him about the positive aspects of the San Francisco Giants baseball club.</p>
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<p><b>Buster Posey</b>: They literally cheered for Barry Zito all seven years.</p>
<p><b>Jon Lester</b>: Even when ...</p>
<p><b>Posey</b>: Especially when. Maybe they just don't follow baseball that closely, I don't know. Also, there are free sundaes in the clubhouse.</p>
<p><b>Lester</b>: Wow.</p>
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<p>You would eat a scorpion for Buster Posey. I would eat a scorpion for Buster Posey. Would Lester listen to him about how great the organization is? Would that make a difference? Dunno, but the scuttlebutt merchants all seem impressed with how impressed Lester was with Posey. Oh, goodness, to have a recording of that meeting. I'll bet Posey sounds surprisingly like Bill Clinton when he's making his pitch.</p>
<p>Who would the Cubs send? Anthony Rizzo or some crap. He would probably ask Lester to validate his parking before he left. The Red Sox would send Jon Lester either back or forward through time to make the pitch to himself. The Giants, though, sent Buster Posey. He arrived with a cherubic grin, a pile of great stories, and a fist full of rings. That has to be compelling.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/8/7354393/jon-lester-rumors-giants-buster-poseyGrant Brisbee2014-12-04T20:10:25-08:002014-12-04T20:10:25-08:00Giants interested in Santana, 'all in' on Lester
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<figcaption>Smell baseball? | Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Also, there are "others," according to Jon Heyman. So the Giants are pretty much interested in every single available pitcher. That doesn't make for a good headline, though.</p> <p>Oh, there's all sorts of Jon Lester news to report. He's unlikely to sign with the Rays, a source tells me. He's most likely not going to the Twins on a one-year deal, I'm hearing. One agent is saying that he will get "at least twice" the major league minimum annually. Jon Heyman is also reporting that the Giants are "all in" on Lester, in a <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24866516/red-sox-may-be-favored-cubs-loved-dodgers-rich-but-dont-forget-giants" target="new">lengthy</a>, Giants-centric column on Thursday.</p>
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<p>While they've checked in on third basemen, outfielders and others, their real focus is clearly on Lester now.</p>
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<p>Get busy spendin', or get busy dyin'. I can think of about a dozen pitchers over the past decade who would have been scarier than Lester at the same price point. I can think of several hundred who were still totally scary, including Lester. If you're going to spend, though, at least spend on the ...</p>
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<p>Jon Lester is hardly the only starting pitcher <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SFGiants?src=hash">#SFGiants</a> are pursuing. They are showing interest in Ervin Santana, among others.</p>
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/540705404368736256">December 5, 2014</a>
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<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Aw, dang it, Giants.</p>
<p>Santana is an entertaining personality. He's a valuable pitcher, and he generally resides somewhere on the Ryan Vogelsong spectrum (which stretches from 2011 to 2013), though he has a touch more upside at 32. He can have problems with dingers, which would be minimized in the NL West.</p>
<p>However! Two problems with Santana:</p>
<ul>
<li>He will cost a draft pick, which is #19 right now and could climb higher.</li>
<li>He's supposedly <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/539886337575616512">interested in a five-year deal</a>, which ha ha ha, no.</li>
<li>He's not really that good?</li>
</ul>
<p>Three. There are three problems with Santana. His FIP over the last three years was 4.27: the <a href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/2Onec" target="_blank">13th-highest in baseball</a> among pitchers with more than 400 innings. There he is, right below Paul Maholm and Tommy Milone. He is a tick better than Kevin Correia, so he has that going for him. Which is something.</p>
<p>The combination of contract, draft pick, and dubious talent make Santana one of the biggest do-not-wants of the open market. I'd love to see him at AT&T, too, but on something like a two-year deal that he isn't going to get. Considering the above, I'd rather have Tim Lincecum in the rotation. It wouldn't be pretty, but at least the Giants would have the draft pick and many millions.</p>
<p>If you're not excited about Lester, remember there are expensive alternatives that would be even worse. If the Giants are really all-in on Lester, they'll need some misdirection to put some pressure on Lester's agents. Like fake interest in Ervin Santana.</p>
<p>I hope.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/4/7338147/giants-rumors-ervin-santana-jon-lesterGrant Brisbee2014-12-03T10:02:47-08:002014-12-03T10:02:47-08:00Lester choosing between Red Sox, Cubs, Giants
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<figcaption>Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Will he pick the Giants, Cubs, Red Sox, or the ~~~MYSTERY TEAM~~~? </p> <p>The Giants, being the natural enemy of scoops in the wild, are being tight-lipped about their pursuit of Jon Lester. We know that Bruce Bochy ditched out on a duck-hunting trip to a) deliver inspirational grumbles to Lester and b) get away from that damned laughing dog. We know that the Giants are interested. Yet in a new <a target="new" href="http://www.csnne.com/blog/red-sox-talk/source-likely-lester-makes-decision-weeks-end">state-of-the-Lester piece </a>from Sean McAdam, there's a standalone sentence toward the beginning:</p>
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<p>The nature of the Giants' offer for Lester is unknown.</p>
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<p>Ominous. The terms of the offer, the money, the years, or ... the <i>nature</i>? It might be in the form of an astral projection. It might be in pennies or Garbage Pail Kids. Or it might be for $300 million and Lester is just making them sweat in the hopes they bump it to $315 million.</p>
<p>In the same piece, though, McAdam conveys the perception that the Giants are on the fringes of the Lester madness:</p>
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<p>While the Giants can't be dismissed -- they've won three World Series in the last five years and offer a pitching-friendly ballpark -- many in the industry view Lester's choice coming down to the Cubs and Red Sox.</p>
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<p>That makes me think of the charming ditty "Freaks of the Industry," which makes the third reference that dates me within the first 225 words. Cool.</p>
<p>So the Giants' offer is unknown, but the perception is that they're third-place finishers. There are also mystery-team rumblings, which is <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/11/7/7171337/jon-lester-mlb-free-agent-rumors-prediction" target="_blank">what I've been guessing</a> the whole time. What I can't figure out is if the Giants are perceived to be out of it because no one has any information on their offer, or if they're perceived to be out of it because it's common knowledge that he's engaging a lot more with the Cubs and Red Sox.</p>
<p>Or maybe all of these stupid rumors are ... no, no. It's not the offseason that's at fault here. It's us. We're the problem.</p>
<p>The Cubs are said to have six years, $138 million on the table. The Red Sox are supposedly offering six years, $130 million. Both of those totals make the inside of my skin itch. On the other hand, Lester would look really, really good in a Giants uniform next year. On the other hand, the deal will be a disaster, and everyone knows that. In five years, Lester will be throwing with his right arm because his left arm was recalled by the manufacturer. Whatever team that has him will think, "Boy, I sure wish we weren't paying <i>that</i> guy." If the Giants get him, he'll be the unspoken reason the Giants aren't going after Wil Myers or Zack Wheeler or something in a few years.</p>
<p>On the other other hand ... Bumgarner/Lester/Cain/Hudson/Other. Maybe the odd year is the real boss level, and the Rangers, Tigers, and Royals were just mini-bosses. Maybe we don't need Ramon Martinez to hit .300 in 2016.</p>
<p>Horrixciting, everyone. These rumors are awfuntresting. The Giants might be on the periphery of the discussions, but they're also the true mystery team because no one knows what in the heck they're actually doing, which is a very, very Giants trait.</p>
<p>There's a poll. Vote in the poll.</p>
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/12/3/7327019/jon-lester-rumors-giants-red-sox-cubsGrant Brisbee