Jon Lester agreed to sign with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night, turning down strong offers from several teams, including his former club, Boston Red Sox.

ESPN reported that Lester signed a six-year deal worth $155 million. Sources said that the starting pitcher also got a $30 million signing bonus that will be paid over the duration of the deal.

Lester also received a $25 million vesting option for the 2021 MLB season, which will be exercised if the 30-year-old pitcher manages to pitch 200 innings in 2020 or 400 combined innings in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

According to reports, Lester's salary will be the second highest for a major league pitcher, next to Cleyton Kershaw's. The Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher previously signed a seven-year, $215 million deal with his club.

Joe Maddon, who made his first big move as new Cubs manager, said that Lester is worth the gamble, as the free-agent pitcher has been their top-target since the offseason started. He is thrilled with Lester's decision to sign with the Cubs but also knows there are still moves that should be made to get the desired result next season.

"It's not often you get to win the lottery," Maddon said. "We won the baseball lottery so far this year, but now it's up to us to put it into effect. It's all theory right now. We've got to make it real, but you need pieces like this to make it real."

In signing with the Cubs, Lester had to turn down an offer from his former team, the Red Sox, who traded him to Oakland Athletics before last season's trade deadline. The Red Sox made a strong pitch to re-acquire Lester as reports indicated that principal owner John Henry recently flew to Atlanta to have a one-on-one meeting with the nine-year veteran.

Lester, who spent eight-and-a-half seasons with the Red Sox before the trade, took to Twitter to announce the deal, saying that it was a difficult decision for him because of the fact that Boston also made a strong offer.

"Extremely difficult decision for me and my family but we love the outcome and couldn't be more excited to join the Cubs organization," Lester said.

"To Red Sox Nation, I understand the disappointment. Boston will always have a big place in my heart and we'll always consider y'all family," he added.

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