One thing that should be noted is that no team with Price in its rotation has ever gone to the World Series. But it will be a small headscratcher for a good while. Price pitched impeccably down the stretches for both clubs but he couldn’t quite bump them into either year’s World Series. Boston handed the 30-year-old a seven-year contract worth $217 million. Price has actually gotten better in each of his last three seasons; what if he improves again in 2016 before beginning his decline? Essentially, in Fenway Park, Price has been Clayton Koufax, or is that Sandy Kershaw.
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No one should doubt that the Red Sox are going to get their money’s worth from Price over the next handful of seasons; a starter’s prime generally runs through his early 30s, and Price has gradually been weaning himself off his fastball since he came up, meaning he should make the transition away from power guy easily. He has never won a game as a starter when it counts, sporting an ugly 0-7 record and an even uglier 5.27 ERA in October. Sure, this deal may not turn out well for the Red Sox, but if it does it won’t be because of the opt-out.
The Red Sox have just signed David Price to a seven-year, $217 million contract, but what does it mean for the Yankees?
The deal is expected to be announced on Friday after Price undergoes a medical. Price will only opt out if he is able to earn more than $127 million over four years – the way contracts are inflating, this is certainly a possibility.
The deal didn’t shock baseball executives because the industry knew Dombrowski had targeted Price, whom he acquired from the Rays for the Tigers in 2014.
Perhaps the Red Sox thought to themselves, yes, we like Zimmermann and he’d be just about right for us, but maybe Price is just about more right for us.
Last winter, the Red Sox gambled that a rotation full of good arms with future upside with no as-yet-known ace could put something together, and they lost that gamble vividly enough. But the Red Sox don’t have any player like Sonny Gray, Carlos Carrasco or Garett Richards who are young can lead the Red Sox from the front.
The contract, which was first reported by the Boston Globe, includes no deferred money, with an opt-out clause after the 2018 season. Has Price been a bad postseason pitcher?
What a difference a year makes.
Well, former Sox general manager Ben Cherington is gone so how could this be seen as a slap in the face to Lester? If that’s the case, then the deal is even more of a steal for the Red Sox. “I think that Fenway can be advantageous to that”, Young said. But yesterday the Red Sox did something to trump them all.
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There is little beauty in acquiring David Price. The outfield is unsettled, but the Red Sox lose nothing by keeping all those guys and hoping for the best. They could become more desperate to move Ivan Nova and could explore trading Michael Pineda in order to make room for a better pitcher, but given the state of Boston’s rotation and the rest of their roster after finishing last in the division in 2015, it would be ill advised to make a move simply as a response. We saw how well putting Ramirez at an unfamiliar position worked past year, so there’s plenty of reason to be concerned here.
