The Giants lost out on the Jon Lester sweepstakes before a winner was announced. Hardly a shock, since the Giants spent all day letting everyone down gently. Bobby Evans had a message to send in the early part of Tuesday: it’s nothing we did wrong, we were just unable to ignite a spark with Lester, a guy who still had chemistry with a couple of old flames: the Red Sox (the team that traded him to Oakland, half-expecting to get him back) and the Cubs (Theo, Theo, wherefore art thou Theo).
That Evans spent a good portion of his day lowering expectations seemed totally normal. Lester could very well get seven years if some of these reports are correct, and $150 million seems to be a baseline, not a ceiling. Even with SI’s Sportsman of the Year pitching more innings than the second, third and fourth starters combined in the postseason, the Giants weren’t likely to hand out a contract with a higher total value than Buster Posey’s $167 million, or a higher annual average value than Matt Cain’s $25.5 million, to an outsider.
After a few hours, the Giants came to the realization that they were completely out of the running for Lester, and Evans — usually Brian Sabean’s dutiful messenger — became Captain Catchphrase.
Bobby Evans: “we did not receive a rose” and Giants eliminated from race for Lester.
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) December 10, 2014
I would’ve preferred “Giants, please pack your knives and go,” but not everyone has the same taste in reality shows.
giants asst gm evans’ instincts were right. they are out on lester. or as he put it, theyve now been dropped at toll booth.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 10, 2014
Kind of an old-fashioned phrase in the era of FasTrak, but OK.
Evans on Giants always “finishing second” in bidding for big names: “We finish first in the most important area.”
— Alex Pavlovic (@AlexPavlovic) December 10, 2014
Your mom. Just kidding, Evans seems like he’d be a decidedly G-rated comedian. Like Bill Cosby. Wait, bad example. Anyway, I’m sure what Evans was referring to was the National League West. No, that’s not it either. What could it be …
