Cubs owner Tom Ricketts recently admitted the Wrigley Field renovation project was behind schedule and would not be completed by Opening Day.
“In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to have Jon [Lester] handle the project himself,” said Ricketts. “We were just trying to maximize our dollars. I mean, for $155 million you’d think he would throw in some new bleachers or whatever.”
As it turns out, Lester is more accomplished on the pitcher’s mound than he is working an excavator.
“When they told me I would be a central piece of the team’s rebuilding project, I thought ‘sure, I’ll do my best to bring a winning attitude,'” said the former Red Sox ace. “It came as a complete shock when [GM Theo] Epstein handed me the keys to a bulldozer and told me to get to work.”
At its current pace, the construction project will be finished about the same time Lester’s six-year deal expires.
