Thursday, July 24, 2014

John Henry: Lester Talks Off Until After Season

John Henry Surveys His Empire (Rick Friedman/Polaris)
In an email sent to The Boston Herald last night, Red Sox principal owner John Henry revealed that contract talks between the team and ace Jon Lester are off until after the season. Wrote Henry in the email, "I’m not going to discuss Jon’s situation out of respect for both Jon and Ben other than to say that both sides have put further discussion off until after the season. It’s clear that both Jon and our organization would like to see Jon back next year if possible." In our view, the key words in Henry's statement are the last two: "if possible". Not "when we get the job done and re-sign him", but we'd like to see him back "if possible". After their pitiful 4-year, $70 million offer, the team is now clearly signaling that Lester is history. Apparently, the only things "friendly" at Fenway these days are foreign soccer matches. What a shame.