Jon Lester Traded To Oakland, Pirates Still Talent Laden

The Pittsburgh Pirates have not acquired Jon Lester from the Boston Red Sox.   Lester will be headed to the Oakland A’s.  It’s safe to say the Pirates couldn’t match the deal that sent Yoenis Cespedes to Boston, that’s a big deal and Cespedes gets paid big money.

The Bucs Neal Huntington and crew targeted Jon Lester, one of the most popular athletes to ever play in Boston.  Boston loves athletes that deliver when it counts.

All Lester does is win during big situations recently.  The southpaw has won two titles since he got the call to the big leagues in 2006.  Despite pitching in one of baseball’s toughest divisions and at the hitter friendly Fenway Park his career numbers are solid over those nine season.

Lester beat cancer.   I mean that’s just phenomenal.

Lester pitches, pitches and pitches some more.  The lefty piles up innings, firing over 200 innings while making at least 31 starts in six of the last seven seasons with Boston.

The veteran has the lowest ERA ever in the biggest games–the World Series.   Lester destroyed the St. Louis Cardinals last year while being accused of being a cheat and then Lester flat out dominated the Cards, beating Adam Wainwright–again,  in game five of the Series.   Three games in the World Series and Lester has given up one run–winning all three games.

Against the Cardinals, he did it with a sore back.  Perhaps that back scared the Red Sox this off season?  If that was the case, Lester proved them wrong.  So how Lester, of all Boston players, ended up on the trading block is a serious mystery, but he was.  Now, Lester has been traded and we didn’t know exactly when it would happen, just that it would.

As the deadline wound down, it seemed the Pirates were a favorite to grab Lester, but once again as they did with Giancarlo Stanton, the Bucs came up short.  Billy Beane is a madman and while Cespedes isn’t a kings ransom, it’s still something, it’s really creative too.

So in the end, Neal Huntington still didn’t pull a blockbuster trade, but the Bucs have a wealth of talent if the ball club ever chooses to do so.

There could be worse things that happened like Starling Marte or Gregory Polanco and perhaps another player for the Bucs to get Lester.  Talk about a mega deal.

In the end, we gotta give a golf clap to Billy Beane–well, if it leads to a World Series win that is.

Jul 30, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester (31) takes a sip of water during batting practice prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports