FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jon Lester made a strong pitch Friday for the Sox to retain Josh Beckett with a contract extension, saying it would be a "huge" loss if Beckett were allowed to leave as a free agent after this season.

Lester spoke with the media after the players took physicals in the morning and underwent conditioning testing in the afternoon. The only players excused from those drills was knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who is coming back from back surgery, and Hideki Okajima, who had some tightness in his legs and will do the running with position players on Tuesday. Manager Terry Francona said he expected Wakefield to be on the same throwing schedule as the rest of the staff.

Lester said he feels strong and recently was checked out by his oncologist, who gave him a clean bill of health. Lester said checkups for his non-Hodgkins lymphoma will soon be done just on an annual basis.

"In two more years,'' he said, "we won't have to talk about it.''

Asked about the contracts signed by young pitchers Felix Hernandez and Tim Lincecum, both of which dwarfed in average annual value the five-year, $30 million deal he signed last year, Lester said he was happy for them, but had no second thoughts about his deal.

"They didn't have my history,'' he said.