Jon Lester hopes the Boston Red Sox are serious when they claim they'll make an aggressive offer to re-sign him this winter.

The Red Sox traded the soon-to-be free agent to the Oakland Athletics on July 31.

Negotiations between the Red Sox and Lester on a contract extension broke down, leading Boston to trade the left-hander before he could leave without any compensation aside from a draft pick.

"You can only hope at this point what they say is true, and that they want to be competitive and they want to make an offer and they want me back," Lester said of the Red Sox.