(670 The Score) Veteran left-hander Jon Lester tenure with the Cubs won't end Thursday.
That's because Game 2 between the Cubs and Marlins in their wild-card series was postponed from Thursday afternoon to Friday due to rain being in the forecast in the Chicago area. It meant Lester – who's in the final year of his contract – remained in a weird spot as it pertained to looking toward his future. The Cubs face elimination as they trail 1-0 in the best-of-three series, and Lester is scheduled to pitch Game 3 on Saturday if it gets that far.
So he could see his Cubs career end as soon as Friday without having any control or he could take the mound Saturday with the ability to lead his team deeper into the playoffs. The uncertainty was reflected in Lester's pregame Zoom media session Thursday, which happened before Game 2 was postponed. He admitted he hasn't thought much about a goodbye in recent day and also reiterated that he wants to remain with the organization in 2021 if at all possible.
"If this is it, this is it," Lester said. "I have to move on with it. The organization will definitely move on. You see it over the years – if somebody leaves or goes down, you fill it in with another person. I've definitely appreciated everything this organization has done for me, and I hope it's not it. I hope we can figure something out for next year and these conversations (about my goodbye) are kind of null and void."
Lester, 36, was 3-3 with a 5.16 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 12 starts this season. He has a $10-million buyout on his contract. What the Cubs' intentions are remains unclear.
In postgame interviews after his last home start in the regular season on Sept. 16, Lester acknowledged he was emotional because it could've been his last start at Wrigley Field. On Thursday, he took a moment at the end of his media session to thank reporters -- just in case it was the last interview he does with them as a member of the Cubs.
"It's been a great six years here," Lester said. "I wanted to make sure I did get to be able to say thank you to you guys. It's been a pleasure to play here, with these guys in the clubhouse and obviously you guys covering the team. There's been some relationships built through the years that I really do appreciate, so thank you guys. I wanted to make sure I got that in before, if this is it – hopefully it's not and then I get to do another one of these interviews with you in a couple days."
