CHICAGO -- They were the two must-have starting pitchers in last winter's free-agent crop, signing contracts that accounted for almost 56 percent of the money going to the 10 starters who got multi-year deals.
It's going to be a while before economists and baseball historians figure whether Max Scherzer and Jon Lester were worth the investment. But before they meet on Wednesday night, we can draw some early conclusions:
1. Both have been huge assets in helping their teams enjoy strong starts.
Some rolled their eyes when the Nationals added Scherzer for seven years, $210 million, given that they already returned Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and the rest of the rotation that had gone 70-49 with a Majors-best 3.