The #SFGiants officials are more optimistic than 24 hours ago that Jon Lester will pick them, while eagerly waiting final decision.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 9, 2014
This tweet from Nightengale is tricky, because we don’t know how optimistic the Giants were on Monday morning that they’d end land Jon Lester. On an optimism scale from one-to-ten, were they at a one, and now they’re at a two or a three?
Who knows, but we can tell you this: A team source told us today that the Giants are “not as close as being reported on Lester.”
So even though Ken Rosenthal might have heard about Lester choosing between the Giants and Cubs, the Giants think he’s choosing between the Cubs and a different team.
That’s what Assistant GM Bobby Evans has said today, both on KNBR and to reporters at the winter meetings. According to Evans, the Giants are a “dark horse” candidate to sign Lester. The favorites, at least according to Evans, are the teams that have strong connections to the top left-handed starter on the market. Those would be the Red Sox (for obvious reasons) and the Cubs, who employ a host of front office executives who, like Lester, have ties to Boston.
During his interview with Brian Murphy, Evans also downplayed interest in Jung-Ho Kang, the power-hitting shortstop from Korea, and Melky Cabrera. Evans described left field as a “back burner” position for now, as the Giants look to focus on filling holes in the rotation and third base before worrying about adding another outfielder.
