The report first came to light on Monday evening.

That's when Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star revealed that the Royals were interested in adding another top starting pitcher to their rotation and willing to deal top prospect Wil Myers to get him.

Dutton also mentioned that the Boston Red Sox had been contacted regarding the availability of Jon Lester.

Jon Lester.

The same pitcher who threw a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals back in May of 2008. Who battled back from lymphoma to win Game 4 of the 2007 World Series. Who from 2008 through the end of 2011 won 15 or more games every year, with an ERA under 3.50 and more than 200 strikeouts in both 2009 and 2010.

In exchange for Wil Myers?

Myers has played zero major league games. So I won't bother running down all his big league accomplishments, because he has none.

Wil Myers is not a standard nice looking prospect, he's right at the top of the list. A 21-year old outfielder who has been a top 50 prospect for the past two seasons. Myers is not a guy who might make the big leagues. His time in the majors is fast approaching. The question is not one of if he will make the majors, it is merely "when?"

Realize this, the Red Sox aren't going to trade Lester for an outfielder, and not add one or two pitchers to the rotation. Ben Cherington is plenty smart enough to count to five. He's already aware of the tenuous state of the Red Sox starting rotation. Trading Lester certainly wouldn't strengthen the rotation.

Myers is not to be taken lightly. He's coming off a season in which he split time between Double- and Triple-A. He hit .314 with 37 home runs and 109 RBI and also had a .987 OPS.

He's also cheap, dirt cheap. Myers hasn't even been called up to the majors yet. He'd be an affordable player for several years. Lester has two years left on his current contract. Next Lester is owed $11.625 million, then in 2014 the Red Sox owe him $13 million. That 2014 season is a team controlled option, though.

What if the Jon Lester of 2013 is very similar to the Jon Lester we saw in 2012?

That Jon Lester wasn't too impressive.

That Jon Lester was 9-14 with a 4.82 ERA. If Lester's 2013 is similar to his 2012 then the Red Sox will probably not pick up his 2014 option and Lester will be a free agent next fall. That would place Lester into the same category as Jacoby Ellsbury.

What if the Red Sox were able to deal for Myers, and then make a trade for a starting pitcher who could improve the rotation?

So far this offseason the Red Sox have not made any moves that would be considered "major." Yet few teams posses the variety of options that the Red Sox do. They have the ability to expand their payroll dramatically if they choose to do so. The Red Sox can spend in the same range as the Yankees, Dodgers, Angels and Phillies.

Unlike those other franchises their current payroll is not that big. The Red Sox also have a fairly deep minor league system; it might not be as deep as the Rays, Rangers, A's or Pirates but it is a top 10 system. FanGraphs had the Red Sox ranked No. 11 last May, and that was before they acquired several of the Dodgers top prospects.

The combination of money to spend and prospects to trade gives the Red Sox a lot of flexibility.

The question is will they use it?

A Lester for Myers trade would be a huge move. It would signal that the Red Sox feel Lester's best years are behind him, it would also make an additional series of high profile moves seem inevitable. The Red Sox aren't going to enter the 2013 season with a rotation of Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, Felix Dubront, Franklin Morales and "blank."

If they deal Lester, maybe the next step is trading Ellsbury for a pitcher not named "blank." A trade of Lester to get Myers could also make prospects such as Bryce Brentz and Ryan Kalish more expendable.

Here's the important thing to remember: If Jon Lester doesn't bounce back and perform at a high level in 2013, then not only will it be a bad season for the Red Sox, but Lester may very well be gone by 2014.

Myers is coming out of a minor league system that has produced players such as Zack Greinke, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon. There's no such thing as a 100 percent guaranteed "can't miss" prospect, but Myers certainly appears a safe bet for future success.

A Myers-for-Lester trade would be a tough pill for fans to swallow. In spite of his woeful 2012 season Lester is still a popular player, and he's earned that popularity. But the Red Sox can't run their team and make trades by using popularity as a barometer.

Lester-for-Myers seems unlikely to happen. The Royals would be trading their top minor league talent for a player coming off a bad season, with a maximum of two years left until free agency, but if it does it could end up being a very shrewd trade.