Lester wants Miller traded to Cubs so he can call him Jesus

Chicago Cubs left-hander Jon Lester is interested in his club acquiring Andrew Miller from the New York Yankees, but it's for more than just his talent.

Lester wants to give Miller an opportunity to look however he wants.

"I love Andrew,” Lester told Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. "I definitely would vouch for Andrew. Obviously, his stuff and stats speak for itself.

"And it would be nice to get him out of the Yankees organization and somewhere he could grow his beard and long hair back and we could call him ‘Jesus’ again."

The Yankees famously have a policy in place that forbids players sporting facial hair beyond a mustache and from growing their hair long.

When Lester and Miller were teammates with the Boston Red Sox from 2011-14, Miller sported more of a shaggy look resembling 'The Almighty.'

Aside from his hairdo, Lester's teammate David Ross - also a former teammate of Miller - does see other valuable reasons for Chicago to acquire the 6-foot-7 southpaw, who has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball over the past four seasons.

"He’s a winner," Ross exclaimed. "He’s got nasty stuff. He throws mid-to-upper 90s with a filthy, filthy slider. Righties and lefties - it doesn’t matter. (Whatever) the matchup, he can get through the inning.

"He doesn’t have an ego. I’ve read his quotes in New York where it’s: ‘I don’t care if I’m closing.’ And that fits right into this team. We’re here as a 25-man group that is after one goal. And he understands that."

Although Miller's name has been mentioned in trade rumors and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently said his club is open to "everything and anything," the Cubs may face difficulty in trying to acquire Miller, who said he's been told there are no plans for him to be traded.

The 31-year-old Miller, who was recently named to the AL squad for the All-Star game, owns a 5-1 record with a 1.47 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, and a 16.2 strikeout per nine inning rate.