Late Tuesday, former Red Sox ace Jon Lester picked the Chicago Cubs over his former team and agreed to a six-year, $155 million contract, the largest in franchise history according to Fox Sports. As late as 9pm Tuesday rumors were swirling that Lester had narrowed his intent down to Boston and Chicago. However around 1am eastern time early Wed morning the news broke Lester would join his third team in less then a year. The Cubs have been extremely aggressive this off season. First with the signing of new manager John Madden who had been courted by several major league clubs. Earlier Tuesday Chicago announced another big deal. The Cubs acquired catcher Miguel Montero from the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league right-handed pitchers Jeferson Mejia and Zack Godley. Montero, 31, last season earned National League All-Star honors for the second time in his big league career, all of which had been spent with the Diamondbacks (2006-14). He was first named an All-Star in 2011, when he batted .282 (139-for-493) with 36 doubles, 18 home runs, 86 RBI and an .820 OPS in 140 games to help the Diamondbacks to the N.L. West division title. A year later, he established career highs in many offensive categories, batting .286 (139-for-486) with 25 doubles, 15 homers, 88 RBI, a .391 on-base percentage, a .438 slugging percentage and an .829 OPS. The left-handed hitting catcher broke into the big leagues in 2006 and was Arizona's primary catcher by the 2009 campaign, when he hit .294 (125-for-425) with 30 doubles, 16 home runs and 59 RBI in 128 games. He signed a five-year contract extension (through 2017) during the 2012 campaign. Montero batted .243 (119-for-489) with 23 doubles, 13 homers, 72 RBI and a .329 on-base percentage during his All-Star campaign a season ago. Montero has played in at least 136 games in three of the last four seasons, has reached at least 20 doubles in five of his last six seasons and has recorded 10 or more home runs in six of his eight campaigns since 2007. Overall, he is a career .264 hitter (795-for-3,017) with 172 doubles, 97 home runs, 448 RBI and a .342 on-base percentage in 906 major league contests, averaging 31 doubles, 17 home runs and 80 RBI per 162 games. In the last six seasons, only Brian McCann has more home runs among left-handed hitting catchers since Montero became Arizona's primary catcher in 2009. |
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