Jon Lester leaves door open for return to Boston

Jon Lester may be in an Oakland uniform now, but he certainly sounds like a guy who would prefer to be back in a Boston uniform come next season.

The Boston Herald caught up with Lester before his start yesterday to talk to him about where he might end up next season and that’s when a return to Boston was mentioned.

“They told me, ‘We’re going to be aggressive. You’re going to get blown out of the water by some of these [other] offers,'” Lester said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t need to be blown out of the water.’ Why would I need to be blown out of the water? That doesn’t make or break your decision, at least for me. I’m not going to the highest bidder. I’m going to the place that makes me and my family happy. If that’s Boston, it’s Boston.”

Lester also talked about understanding Ben Cherington’s decision to trade him and mentioned that would have no effect on his decision this offseason.

“I’m glad with where I’m at, and I understood where [Red Sox GM] Ben [Cherington] was at. At the end of the season, it’s not going to change my mind about going back there if they are aggressive and competitive and do the things they say they’re going to do. Boston is definitely a place I would go.”

Lester says that money won’t be a deciding factor, but that’s easy to say right now. If the Sox present an offer this offseason for $50 million less than a competitor, then we’ll see just how important money really is. But for now, it’s good to hear that Lester’s heart is still in Boston.