The deal that Lester signed doesn't necessarily set the bar for arbitration-eligible players anyway. Those deals are less about money than they are about financial security for several years when those players have yet to prove themselves over an extended period of time. As far as the team goes, it either works out because it buys out FA years or it blows up in their face because the player gets injured or craps the bed. Players who are concerned about maxing out their financial worth simply don't go for these deals, they go year to year until they become an FA like Papelbon.