Lester talks heating up

Left-hander Jon Lester won two games for the Boston Red Sox in last year’s World Series.
The Pirates would love to see him duplicate his performance in this year’s World Series — while wearing a Pittsburgh uniform.
With the defending World Series champions having fallen out of contention, the Pirates have stepped up their interest in Lester with the non-waiver trading deadline looming Thursday.
The Pirates, as reported earlier this month, had been considering making a push for Lester for a while.
Lester is eligible for free agency after this season and the Pirates would have no shot at re-signing him in the offseason as he will certainly command a nine-figure contract on the open market. However, they feel he would be the perfect rental pitcher for the final two months of the regular season and, they hope, a deep run in the postseason.
The Pirates are willing to part with what a club source called a “significant” package of prospects in a trade, but don’t want to give up their very best minor leaguers because they would have Lester only for the short term.
The Pirates are willing to trade any of their prospects except right-handers Tyler Glasnow, Nick Kingham and Jameson Taillon, catcher Reese McGuire and outfielders Josh Bell and Austin Meadows.
Among the significant prospects the Pirates apparently would be willing to give up — in some combination — are right-handers Luis Heredia and Adrian Sampson, third baseman Wyatt Mathisen, shortstops Alen Hanson and JaCoby Jones and outfielder Harold Ramirez.
The potential exists for a blockbuster trade as the Pirates also have interest in a pair of Red Sox relievers — closer Koji Uehara and left-hander Andrew Miller — and right-handed hitting outfielder Jonny Gomes to platoon with rookie Gregory Polanco in right field.
Uehara and Miller are also eligible for free agency in November.
While the Pirates’ first priority is to make a trade with the Red Sox, they continue to have conversations with various other teams.
However, they would love to get something done with Boston in the next few days with the belief adding Lester would swing the balance of power their way in in the National League Central race.