Wil Myers is ranked higher than Red Sox prospect Xander Bogaerts.

Would the Red Sox trade Bogaerts for Detroit starter Max Scherzer, who last season outperformed Jon Lester?

Scherzer is the same age as Lester, remains under team control for the same two years as Lester, and is projected to earn $4 million less than Lester in 2013.

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=al&qual=y&type=8&season=2012&month=0&season1=2012&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

 

If Lester goes to the Royals just be prepared for him to go 16-8 and don't look back. Myers could be a sensational hitter for the Sox for the next ten years and long after Lester is effective anymore.

In response to dannycater's comment:

Thats what everyone said in 2004...Bellhorn? Millar? etc...

In response to hill55's comment:

Lester , over his career is better than MS...Not just one bad year...

 

Wasn't 1985 the last time the Royals made the playoffs?!?  Geez, and their football team stinks too.   LOL

 

In response to EnchiladaT's comment:

If we got some pitching to replace lester, than I think its a chance you take. Myers is only 21 and hasnt faced MLB pitching and is an unknown, but his ML numbers are off the charts in 2012...His HR totals combined in 2010 and 2011 is 22. He hit 37 in 2012? Quite a huge jump...Hes an OF/Catcher? Didnt know that...

The Royals have deserved their fate. This is an organization that let David Cone, Bret Saberhagen, and Kevin Appier walk not to mention Greinke. This is a team that once had an outfield of Damon, Beltran, and Dye all of whom were only entering their prime when they walked.

 

Depending on how athletic he is I might have him at CA/1B.  Elles can be traded for a #2 starter I bet at some point between now and July. Lets face it, Lester is a #2 even on his best day. 

The Royals want pitching badly.

Give them Lester, Morales, Aceves, Sweeney, and Bradley

for

Gordon, Hosner & Myers.

Then sign some FA pitchers and/or trade for B Anderson

.... deleted because it really was dull ....

In response to southpaw777's comment:

Jon Lester is three years removed from his career-high WAR* of 6.4 in 2009.

Over the past two seasons, Lester has a combined WAR of 7.0 in 64 starts while Max Scherzer had a combined WAR of 7.3 in 65 starts. Over the past three seasons, Lester has a combined WAR of 12.7 in 96 starts while Scherzer has a combined WAR of 11.1 in the same number of starts.

* Wins Above Replacement as reported at FanGraphs

 

Imagine this,.....   LOL

Cherington: "Hey Lester, what's up?  Grab a seat."

Lester: "Thank you Ben."

Cherington: "Lester,.............you've been traded to the Kansas City Royals."

Lester: "What the %&$# did you just say?" 

 

deleted for dullness as well

The Royals would only have Lester for 2013 and 2014 and lets face it, even if Lester is dominant he would walk after that. Kansas City is not about to increase its payroll to the point of say the Red Sox. So do you give up 7 years of Will Myers for 2 years of Jon Lester?

In response to EnchiladaT's comment:

+1

KC has had great prospects for a long time. It's about time they make a move, and this might be the time they try.

They'd be better off asking for 3 of Doubront, Aceves, Tazawa, or Morales

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view/20221127report_sox_hear_offers_for_lester/

This post has been removed.

as a couple people have already mentioned, i would try to expand the deal to lester plus others for will myers and hosmer/butler. fill two needs with one trade. makes sense. 

In response to redsoxpride34's comment:

That would make sense, for Boston. Kansas City would be doing this to contend in 2013 can we stop throwing trades that would weaken their club this season? Butler is staying put. That said absolutely you trade Lester for Myers given their ages and as someone else said don't look back. This isn't about Lester being bad, it is about the Red Sox being bad, Lester nearing the end of his contract and prime years, and having a chance to pry away a top 10 bat at age 21. That is a no brainer for this particular club. Even if Myers absolutely bombs or gets injured you still take the chance. Frankly I think everyone has it backwards anyway. Develop your core lineup then overpay for premium legit ace pitching either via prospects (Pedro, Schill, R Halladay) or free agency (CC Sabathia, Clemens, Cliff Lee) and avoid overpaying #2s like Lackey. Then fill the rotation out with homegrown talent and higher upside lower cost FAs.

 

PS I have been ripping the Sox offseason more than anyone because I just don't see their 'plan'. But short of a Toronto style external overhaul to compete in 2013 this is exactly the kind of long term overhaul I could live with if it doesn't work out, and would show that the Sox do in fact have a plan other than just letting a broke John Henry steal our money.

In response to dannycater's comment:

howd 2011 work out for us?? all that talent and what did we get from it? its all about role players and team chemistry. we have a core of talent and stars, we have to surround them with the right guys. role players who mesh well with the team.

as for the lester trade i don't think this will happen. while he had a bad 2011 i think its an anamoly moreso than the trend. hes been money every other year and very durable. farrel as the skipper will surely do him good, if the royals make us an offer that we cant refuse then by all means. buh-bye lester. But looking at our needs (PITCHING PITCHING AND MORE PITCHING) i don't see us trading away pitching. Like others said we could fill the hole via FA but there are only 3-4 starters in free agency that i think are better than lester. plus, hes homegrown and loves it here in boston.

a more likely trade is that we send Of help to the royals in exchange for more pitching, not the other way around.

I like Lester a lot but I would trade him for Myers without hesitation.

In response to mef429's comment:

This likely won't happen, but it has never been all about role players. The Red Sox won because of David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, Keith Foulke, Papelbon, Pedroia and Beckett. Only Ortiz was considered a role player when brought in. They surrounded that core with guys like Arroyo, Lowe, Roberts, Millar, Mueller, Varitek, Timlin, Okajima, Lowell and other complimentary pieces. They mixed some homegrown talent and spent money to fill out the roster with premium players. The problem wasn't using free agency, it was who they used it for. John Lackey was a rich man's Jeff Suppan (better past, similar stuff and similar future). Carl Crawford was a poor man's Johnny Damon (lower OBP, much lower walk rate, less to no power, hogged a corner OF spot, couldn't bat leadoff). And Josh Beckett won a ring here and was central to that win. That trade was worth it 100 times over even with how things ended here. The idea is targeting the right free agents not becoming the Oakland As and hoping to win the prospect and platoon player lottery. The Red Sox 'core' consists of Dustin Pedroia. David Ortiz is great and I am thrilled he is back but he is aging and won't likely be here during the next run. Ellsbury is gone after this year. Middlebrooks is no cornerstone franchise player. He is a very solid major leaguer with a ceiling of a fringe All Star because of his power, but nothing more without a marked and unprescedented uptick in pitch selection. That core isn't here right now and thinking it is only borders on delusional. One can argue that core exists in the farm system. It well might but Red Sox fans, myself included, rate our prospects much higher than national evaluators do and that should lend some caution. Only Bogaerts is considered a potential franchise prospect. I think that sells RDL short, but I understand looking at Barnes and Webster and seeing Buch and Arroyo. I also understand the danger of counting on Bradley given how limited his abs have been and that he has yet to see a full season at AA. Remember how untradeable Lars was? How sure fire was he for years? They passed on Tex in part because they felt he could not miss.

What makes this potential trade scenario different is that Lester is not a premium ace in the sense Pedro and Schill were or even in the sense Beckett used to be during an on year. Lester is entering the end of his prime years. At best this team is comparable to the 2002/2005 Red Sox, an utter mess that could luck out with a playoff spot if everything in the universe broke right (see 2005) but that is at least 2 years away from legit contention even if everything is done right. So who will likely be more valuable in 2015, Myers or Lester?

I would also trade Lester for Myers at this point in their careers for many of the same reasons that have been already mentioned.

Sox fans have been waiting quite a while now for Lester to dig in and really anchor the staff as a solid number one starter, but he is still not there.

In fact, he may be more part of the problem than the solution moving forward.  Last season was his worst by far, and it is hard to imagine the Sox needing him any more than they did in September of 2011 and all of last season when he was in his prime and not injured.  Yet, both times he has come up very short.

Farrell may help him return to better perfomance this year, but with the team around him is that really going to make him untradeable?  If he rebounds to say, 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA, is it enough to change the standings considerably?

Or, he could become one of those guys who is just going to continue to slide downhill to the point where you could say that he should have been traded a year or two early rather than too late.

If he does come back in 2013 with the Sox and pitches well, he is still coming to the point in time age-wise that they are not likely to sign him for big bucks when his current contract expires.

 

If Dayton Moore made a straight up trade Lester for Myers and a Shields for Myers trade was available--if I'm the owner I fire Moore on the spot if he takes Lester over Shields.

In my estimation Lester has lost the fire and he's lost his confidence in throwing his fastball. There's no question he could be rejuvinated--maybe that's what they see. If I'm KC I would ask for a minimum of Brentz and Lester for Myers.