Report: Red Sox won't trade Jon Lester

Despite Lester's struggles this season, he won't be dealt before the deadline.

By Navin Vaswani

Jul 25, 2012 at 2:21 pm ET • 1 min read

The Red Sox won't be trading Jon Lester before Tuesday's non-waiver trade deadline, according to a major-league source, wrote ESPN's Gordon Edes.

The decision to keep Lester -- under contract through 2013, with a $13 million club option for 2014 -- means Boston's goal is make the playoffs.
Lester is 5-8 with a 5.46 ERA and 1.46 WHIP this year. His 7.48 strikeout rate is his lowest since 2008.
Boston will look to bolster its rotation instead and "remain engaged" in trying to add Chicago's Matt Garza or Miami's Josh Johnson. They face stiff competition for both.
The Red Sox aren't expected to acquire Zack Greinke, according to CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler.
Teams have expressed interest in Boston's outfielders. The Reds and Pirates are known to have scouted the Red Sox, and there's interest in Ryan Kalish, Cody Ross, and Ryan Sweeney.
In order to win 90 games -- likely the very least needed to qualify for the playoffs -- the Red Sox have to win 41 of their remaining 64 games.