Reports out of Chicago indicate that former Red Sox GM
Theo Epstein is prepared to aggressively pursue Jon Lester this off-season. Those same reports suggest that Lester is "open-minded" about where he'll land in 2015—which, of course, could
also include Boston and the Bronx. However, Theo is flush with cash, and has only about $30 million committed to his 2015 payroll—which
includes his core young players. Said Epstein,
"We’re going to field a pretty good nucleus with a very low payroll associated with that. That in and of itself – and some of the savings that we’ve made over the last offseason for example – will allow us the flexibility we need to be very aggressive should the right player or players present themselves to us." It should be an interesting three-way tussle this Winter.
