If the Red Sox wanted to sign Jon Lester for the 2015 season (and beyond), they probably shouldn’t have traded him to the A’s:

“Yeah, I think so,” said Lester when asked if the trade made it easier for him to leave Boston for good. “I think there’s always that unknown when you’re traded, going to a whole different coast, a whole different organization, a whole different philosophy. I think going [to Oakland] prepared us for this time.

“I think if we finish out the year in Boston and you get down to this decision, I think it would be a lot harder. That’s not to say it wasn’t hard as it was, but I feel like that broke that barrier of ‘I wonder if I could play for another team.’ And I think we answered those questions.”

In other news, he will wear No. 34 in Chicago – as No. 31 is retired (Maddux, Jenkins)