Jon Lester Talks Aging Well, Winning Now & Twitter Responses

(CBS) New Cubs ace Jon Lester recently signed a hefty six-year, $155-million deal to come to Chicago. It's been seen as a logical move and important step in the Cubs' transition, but how will it play out in the long term as he gets paid big bucks on the latter end of the contract?

Lester's coming off the best season of his career, in which he registered a 2.46 ERA, and at 30 years old -- on the back end of his prime -- and he believes he has a lot in the tank.

"There's only certain things you can control," Lester said in an interview with the Spiegel and Mannelly Show on Thursday morning. "I know how hard I work, I know how I take care of myself, and those are the two things I can control. As far as injuries and wear and tear and stuff like that, it's going to happen. I mean, this game is hard on your body, especially being a pitcher, year in and year out. Yeah, I take good care of myself. I try to do everything I can to put myself in the best position to succeed. I'm hoping that I can continue to refine mechanics, continue to make sure my body is in the best shape that I can be. With that also comes adjustments you need to make on the mound as far as your effort level, as far as how you pitch, how you go about a game and moving through a lineup and stuff like that.

"Hoping without a doubt, I'll age well and take those innings into my upper 30s."

Lester again emphasized that he believes the time is now to win in Chicago.

"I don't want to go to a rebuilding process," Lester said. "I felt like the rebuild was close to being over. With everything Theo (Epstein) and those guys laid out in front of me, it felt like they were ready to win now, and that's the situation I want to be in."

Listen to the full Lester interview here, in which he also discusses parallels to his tenure in Boston and how he went about tweeting back hundreds of fans who gave him well-wishes (and criticism) after his big decision (hint: he had some help).