Lester to Nationals

[mias_tisg]

[Brian]

May 17-20 Nationals v. Cubs, hopefully there can be fans and hopefully he shoves

[Brian]

NoCode breaking the signing is all time hall of fame NSBB

[Andy]

NoCode breaking the signing is all time hall of fame NSBB

Long live NoCode.

Also, this is possibly the most depressing offseason for a team I follow that I can ever remember.

[Bertz]

Good for Jon. I'm pretty convinced he's cooked, so I'm happy to see him get paid but also glad that it's happening somewhere else.

[Old Style]

May 17-20 Nationals v. Cubs, hopefully there can be fans and hopefully he shoves

If fans are allowed in I may fly up just to root for Lester and Schwarber.

[d_money]

Damn. Best of luck to Jon.

[mias_tisg]

Good for Jon. I'm pretty convinced he's cooked, so I'm happy to see him get paid but also glad that it's happening somewhere else.

I'm seeing a lot of pissed off Cubs fans on social media. I can't be the only one here that had no desire seeing Lester pitch in 2021 on the Cubs. 2015-2018 were awesome and he's one of the best free agent signings in Cubs history and Chicago sports history but it's pretty clear he was done in 2019 and completely done in 2020. I get that people are pissed with everything the Cubs are doing at this point but I can't get there with this move and there will be time to mend fences with Jon and welcome him back when he's done.

[Cubswin11]

I had mixed feelings about bringing him back. I wish he had just retired as seeing him on a different team will suck. We are going to suck this year anyways so I wish we gave him a few mil to ride off in the sunset here and so he could get a final send off in front of fans in Wrigley. Also don’t blame him going somewhere else, he’s a competitor and get him not wanting to be around a team who’s ceiling is maybe 84 wins and picking to be somewhere else with a better chance for a final playoff run.

[UMFan83]

Good for Jon. I'm pretty convinced he's cooked, so I'm happy to see him get paid but also glad that it's happening somewhere else.

I'm seeing a lot of pissed off Cubs fans on social media. I can't be the only one here that had no desire seeing Lester pitch in 2021 on the Cubs. 2015-2018 were awesome and he's one of the best free agent signings in Cubs history and Chicago sports history but it's pretty clear he was done in 2019 and completely done in 2020. I get that people are pissed with everything the Cubs are doing at this point but I can't get there with this move and there will be time to mend fences with Jon and welcome him back when he's done.

Apparently he was pretty set on returning to the Cubs, asking for $5m a year at the start of the offseason and again going back to the Cubs and asking them to come close to what the Nationals were about to give him and the best they could come up with (according to Gordo) was somewhere around $2m a year.

You wonder how much of that is the Cubs not being able to afford more and how much of it is the Cubs realizing he’s cooked and making the token effort to resign. I would have been ok with Jon returning for under $5m next season but since clearly we aren’t going to contend I’m at least somewhat excited so see if we can use the magical pitch lab to unearth 1-2 quality starters. May fail miserably but again the ship has sailed on 2021 contention and if we want this to be more of a 2 year retool than a true gut rebuild then we probably shouldn’t be bringing back 37 year old pitchers

[Backtobanks]

Good for Jon. I'm pretty convinced he's cooked, so I'm happy to see him get paid but also glad that it's happening somewhere else.

I'm seeing a lot of pissed off Cubs fans on social media. I can't be the only one here that had no desire seeing Lester pitch in 2021 on the Cubs. 2015-2018 were awesome and he's one of the best free agent signings in Cubs history and Chicago sports history but it's pretty clear he was done in 2019 and completely done in 2020. I get that people are pissed with everything the Cubs are doing at this point but I can't get there with this move and there will be time to mend fences with Jon and welcome him back when he's done.

Apparently he was pretty set on returning to the Cubs, asking for $5m a year at the start of the offseason and again going back to the Cubs and asking them to come close to what the Nationals were about to give him and the best they could come up with (according to Gordo) was somewhere around $2m a year.

You wonder how much of that is the Cubs not being able to afford more and how much of it is the Cubs realizing he’s cooked and making the token effort to resign. I would have been ok with Jon returning for under $5m next season but since clearly we aren’t going to contend I’m at least somewhat excited so see if we can use the magical pitch lab to unearth 1-2 quality starters. May fail miserably but again the ship has sailed on 2021 contention and if we want this to be more of a 2 year retool than a true gut rebuild then we probably shouldn’t be bringing back 37 year old pitchers

Chatwood signed too. Thank God we snapped up Miller before these teams realized that Lester and Chatwood aren't any good.

[Tim]

I think the primary mistake you guys are making is that you're planning to watch baseball this year.

[Gilby]

I'll always love Jon, and I enjoyed the Gordo article. Buuut I'm ready to move on from Lester's handful of 2 innings, 8 earned runs outings. He just absolutely gives you no chance in some of his starts these days.

[Old Style]

Good for Jon. I'm pretty convinced he's cooked, so I'm happy to see him get paid but also glad that it's happening somewhere else.

I'm seeing a lot of pissed off Cubs fans on social media. I can't be the only one here that had no desire seeing Lester pitch in 2021 on the Cubs. 2015-2018 were awesome and he's one of the best free agent signings in Cubs history and Chicago sports history but it's pretty clear he was done in 2019 and completely done in 2020. I get that people are pissed with everything the Cubs are doing at this point but I can't get there with this move and there will be time to mend fences with Jon and welcome him back when he's done.

I'm just a meatball, I guess. We are going to suck anyway and he wasn't asking for much. Why not give him a one year deal and let him retire as a Cub? I hate that Wrigley was empty for his last start. He deserved a big sendoff.

[Irrelevant Dude]

It sucks to see Jon go, especially on top of everything else going on with the Cubs and their lack of spending. Looking at this move independently though, it was a good baseball decision, so I can't really criticize the Cubs.

I was already a semi-Nationals fan before Schwarber and Lester, so I will definitely be following them closely this year.

[abmillis]

Gordo isn't entirely wrong about his tone in the article, but Lester not sticking around isn't the reason to be upset. Honestly, he's cooked and it would have been better for them to not even make him an offer and just say, "Jon, you were awesome but we're going to look at some young arms this year." They're only tangentially interested in competing this year, and Jon may not have even helped that much in that regard. Most teams are going to probably have a starting rotation that ends up with about 7-8 guys regularly starting (10+ starts each) if this ends up a 162-game season, why not throw a bunch of guys at the wall and see what sticks when you play in what will likely be the worst division in baseball?

[Brian]

Contract is 1/5, because it's the Nationals it's just 2 this year and a 3 mill signing bonus in '23.

[Old Style]

Contract is 1/5, because it's the Nationals it's just 2 this year and a 3 mill signing bonus in '23.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Contract is 1/5, because it's the Nationals it's just 2 this year and a 3 mill signing bonus in '23.

2123*

[Post Count Padder]

I had wanted him back on a cheap one year deal but it was mostly for emotional reasons. He might have something left in the tank and I wish him well but I'll/we'll get over him leaving.

[Backtobanks]

I'll always love Jon, and I enjoyed the Gordo article. Buuut I'm ready to move on from Lester's handful of 2 innings, 8 earned runs outings. He just absolutely gives you no chance in some of his starts these days.

I think many of us agree with you, but I think all of the posts are just boiling-over frustration about the Cubs this off season.