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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Jon Lester set Major League Baseball records for largest signing bonus and biggest upfront payment with his $155 million, six-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.The pitchers contract calls for a $30 million signing bonus, of which $15 million is due by April 1, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because those details have not been announced.The previous high for a signing bonus had been Vernon Wells $25.5 million under a $126 million, seven-year deal with Toronto that covered 2008-14 and was announced in December 2006. Wells bonus was payable in three equal installments on March 1 each year from 2008-10.Lesters upfront payment tops a mark set Dec. 8 by Cuban defector Yasmany Tomas. The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a $14 million signing bonus for the Cuban outfielder-third baseman, all payable within 30 days of the deals approval by Major League Baseball.Tomas broke a record that had stood since January 1993, when Cecil Fielder agreed to a $36 million, five-year contract with Detroit that included an upfront signing bonus of $10,187,500.Chicago and Lester spread out the rest of the signing bonus in three stages, with $2.5 million payments due by Dec. 31 in 2018 and 2019, and a final $10 million installment by Sept. 15, 2020.Lesters contract was agreed to last Tuesday at the winter meetings by the Cubs and agents Sam and Seth Levinson. The Cubs said Saturday they will introduce Lester on Monday at Spiaggia Restaurant, a favourite of President Barack Obama and his family.Lesters deal includes an option for 2021 that, if it becomes guaranteed, would make the deal worth $170 million over seven seasons.A three-time All-Star who turns 31 next month, Lester helped Boston win World Series titles in 2007 and 13. He was dealt by the Red Sox to Oakland at the trade deadline in July and helped the Athletics reach the playoffs.Lester was 16-11 with a career-best 2.46 ERA and 220 strikeouts this year. He is 116-67 with a 3.58 ERA in nine big league seasons.___An earlier version misstated the guaranteed length. It is six years, not seven. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but come away impressed. Wholesale China Jerseys . But defending champion Elena Vesnina of Russia held off a strong challenge to beat Shuai Peng of China 6-3, 6-4, and there was another hard-fought victory for 2012 runner-up Angelique Kerber of Germany, who defeated Alison Riske of the United States 7-6 (6), 6-4. http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/ .Morse gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season and $8 million in 2016 under the agreement announced Wednesday. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Three pitches later, he was hugging Mike Napoli at home plate after his teammates winning home run. Napoli and Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one out in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied past Minnesota 2-1 Wednesday, sending the Twins to their fifth straight loss. China Jerseys Online . Head of clinic Josef Obrist tells the Austria Press Agency on Thursday that Morgenstern "is doing surprisingly well. ... He still has a memory gap but thats nothing unusual." Morgenstern has moved to a rehabilitation clinic in Klagenfurt for further recovery.Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Duchene picked up the deciding goal early in the third period and added an assist, as Colorado escaped with a 4-3 victory over Dallas at Pepsi Center. Erik Johnson, John Mitchell and Nathan MacKinnon lit the lamp in the second period for the Avalanche, who have won three in a row and seven of 10 overall. Semyon Varlamov snagged the win thanks to a 37-save performance. Brett Ritchie, Colton Sceviour and Ales Hemsky scored for the Stars, losers of four straight since winning four in a row. Kari Lehtonen stopped 26 shots in defeat. I thought we did a better job at the end of the game. It felt like we could just get that one (game-tying goal), said Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski. We played all right for a while in the second, but they got the momentum back with the quick two. Thats something teams have done against us this year. On the opening shift of the third, Duchene used his body as a shield to ward off a Stars defender, circled behind the Dallas net and lifted a wrister from the left circle to give the hosts a 4-2 edge. That was something Ive done before. Sometimes it just does not go in. This time it did, Duchene said of his first goal since Dec. 11. I kind of took my time there and was able to score it. Hopefully that ended the only kind of stretch like that Ill go through this season. Hemsky brought his club back to a goal at 2:38, but Colorados defense and Varlamov combined to hold that margin. Varlamov stoned Jason Spezza from the right siide with less than 30 seconds to go, and when Alex Tanguay was booked for hooking, the Stars skated 6-on-4 in the final 18 ticks.dddddddddddd The visitors failed to squeeze off a quality chance until the buzzer. Just 27 seconds into the contest, a turnaround shot from between the circles by Tyler Seguin nipped Ritchie and beat Varlamov. Sceviour doubled the Dallas edge on a backhander from the slot at 9:24. Johnson finally provided some offense for the hosts at 7:18 of the second period with a low shot from the right circle and Mitchell evened things at 8:43 on a rocket from the left point. MacKinnon made it 3-2 when he crashed the crease and managed to dislodge his own rebound which sat alongside Lehtonens right pad so that it slid over the goal line with nine seconds left before intermission. Goals just arent easy at times, but Ill take it. There was a lot of waiting, but Im thankful they called it good, MacKinnon mentioned of what became just his third goal since mid-November. Game Notes Colorado improved to 10-0-0 this season when scoring four-or-more times in games not decided by shootouts ... Dallas failed to capitalize on any of its six power-play chances ... The Avalanche kick off a five-game road swing in Washington on Monday, and the Stars begin a three-game homestand on Tuesday by welcoming Ottawa ... Johnson will represent the Avs at the All-Star Game in Columbus in two weeks, while Seguin gained the Stars lone ASG mention. ' ' '