The Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs have strong interest in acquiring Jon Lester, who is one of the top free agents on the market this offseason, reports indicated.

The Red Sox, who traded Lester to the Oakland Athletics before last season's trade deadline, are still interested in having a reunion with the veteran pitcher despite signing free agents Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez to lucrative deals on Tuesday.

Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry told ESPN Boston that they are still in a hunt for a top-tier pitcher, and Lester is on top of their list.

Henry said that the Red Sox are willing to go over the $189 million luxury tax threshold to sign Lester, who went 16-11 with a 2.46 ERA and 220 strikeouts in 32 starts last season.

"The way it's structured, you can blow through [the threshold] one year," Henry said. "Again, for next year we have tremendous flexibility, so we could go through for one year. It would not overly affect us but we're hopeful."

Lester, who spent the first eight full seasons of his career in Boston, turned down a four-year deal worth $70 million in March. But in a recent meeting, Lester's agent, Seth Levinson, hinted that his client is looking for a six-year deal, and will not consider money as the top factor. Instead, Lester will sign with the team where he will feel comfortable.

"I guess the signal it sends is there's never been a problem between Jon and the organization, or the organization with Jon," Henry said. "He's been a huge part of what we've accomplished here and I think when we went to see him, a large part of our presentation was finishing that legacy he started."

However, signing Lester will not be a walk in the park for the Red Sox as several teams are also making a strong push to acquire the 30-year-old free agent.

Jim Bowden of ESPN reported that World Series champions San Francisco Giants are scheduled to meet with Lester next week to discuss a possible deal.

The Giants, who lost star third baseman Sandoval to the Red Sox, are intrigued about the possibility of adding another left hander into their rotation that is headlined by World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.

Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago also reported that the Cubs are still in the mix. While the Red Sox and the Giants are considered frontrunners at this point, sources close to the situation said that the Cubs could pull off a major coup this offseason by acquiring the left hander.

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