The Chicago Cubs finally got their ace and it's Jon Lester. Late Tuesday night and into early Wednesday morning, Lester decided to choose the Chicago Cubs over his former team the Boston Red Sox. The deal is 6 years, $155 million. With a vesting option for a seventh year. Lester also received a $30 million signing bonus.
The main thing the north siders have been lacking is pitching. This helps out a bit but just Lester won't put them over the top. Chicago still needs maybe 2 more impact starters. Which they can wait until the 2015 free agency class that includes guys like David Price, Johnny Cueto & Jordan Zimmerman, to name a few.
The Cubs are not going all in this season. Which is smart. Smart for the Cubs not to spend their money on both Lester and Scherzer or Shields. The Cubs have a lot of young raw talent that is yet to be fully developed. I still wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs miss the playoffs.
For the first time in a long time, there's a lot of excitement in the Windy City. With acquisition of Lester, plus bringing back Jason Hammel & trading for catcher Miguel Montero, this Cubs team will be much better than last season. Not to mention, they have a new manager that's pretty good at what he does, Joe Maddon. I think this team will vastly improve.
Realisticly, the Cubs are still a few players a way from being a World Series caliber team. They need an impact bat to put in the outfield. Kris Bryant will most likely be called up to the majors this upcoming season but who knows when. Will he make the opening day roster? Will it be a few weeks? Who knows. We'll just have to wait and see.
Regardless, the Cubs have a lot of great young pieces to build around. Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Arismendy Alcantara, to mention a few. Not to mention Addison Russell, who is a top 10 prospect in the Cubs organization but he may still be 2 years away from the show.
The Cubs have improved their team this offseason but they now they have to perform on the field. In my opinion, as of right now, this is how I'd see the starting rotation looking:
1. Jon Lester
2. Jake Arrieta
3. Jason Hammel
4. Kyle Hendricks
5. Travis Wood/Edwin Jackson/Tsuyoshi Wada/Felix Dubront
For that final spot I do think Travis Wood will get it. But there's a lot of buzz in the Windy City on the north side, and it's a good buzz.
Also: The Cubs will be officially introducing Jon Lester tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 PM CT.
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