Jon Lester decision 'nearing the finish line', could come Monday night

If you're anything like us, you're tired of waiting to find out where Jon Lester is going to sign. If you're a Red Sox fan reading this, you likely want him to sign in Boston once more, but realistically you just want him to sign somewhere so the Red Sox can know where they stand and move on to phase two of their offseason plan to improve the pitching, whatever that might entail. You won't have to wait much longer to find out, as ESPN's Buster Olney reports that Lester is nearing the finish line" for his decision.

Even more specifically, Olney said that this decision will come no earlier than Monday night, and no later than Tuesday. Lester's decision is currently holding up the entire pitching market -- well, the non-Happ, non-Hammel portions of it, anyway -- so once he does get moved, we'll start to hear about James Shields, Max Scherzer, Cole Hamels, and the rest of the quality pitchers who could sign or be traded this winter.

The word is that it's down to the Red Sox, the Cubs, the Giants, and the Dodgers. All four teams can afford Lester, both now and later, and all four have plenty to entice a free agent like Lester to them besides just money. Lester already delayed his expected decision once when the Dodgers entered the fray last week, but now that he's had time to process their interest, it sounds as if he'll have a decision ready soon.

It honestly cannot come soon enough.