Red Sox rumors: the latest surrounding Jon Lester

Is a Jon Lester/Red Sox reunion in the cards?  With baseball general managers meetings in full swing this week, there have been numerous communications between general managers, players, and agents.  Most of the time you’ll see a general manager meeting with a player and scout and sometimes that news can become overblown; after all, general managers like to do their due diligence.  This week, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has meet with Lester’s agents multiple time this week per reports.  Again, is this showing the Red Sox are strongly interested or are they just sort of gauging what Lester’s camp is seeking? According to Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe and ESPNBoston.com, Red Sox ownership  plans to sit down and meet with Lester’s agents, perhaps by the end of this week.  This indicates the Red Sox have very strong interest in bringing Lester back to Boston.

While the Red Sox are said to have a policy abut handing out long-term contracts to starting pitchers who are over the age of 30 (Lester is 31), Cherington has gone on record as to saying that is not a policy that is set in stone and they are willing to make exceptions in the right circumstances.

Lester has also stated all along he would certainly consider coming back to Boston if he receives a fair offer and Boston has said they would love him back.  While everything seems pointing to the right direction for a reunion, this might not be as easy as a process as it sounds.  According to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, at least six teams are showing legitimate interest in Lester as well.  Speculation also exists that the Cubs will be highly aggressive for Lester’s services.

For those hoping to see Lester return in a Red Sox uniform, the arrow is pointed in the right direction and all the cards are there, now it’s just a matter of how far the Red Sox are willing to go with their offer.