However, this deal doesn’t plug the holes in the Red Sox.
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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 joins a rotation that greatly needed an ace of his caliber.
But the Boston Red Sox, understanding that they probably weren’t Price’s first choice of destination, stepped up and crushed all other bidders with a record seven-year, $217 million deal. He has seven saves in 365 appearances over nine seasons.
The Red Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve agreed to a two-year contract with Young, who spent the 2015 season with the New York Yankees before becoming a free agent.
Overall this team still has a lot of talent and could be back in the playoff hunt as soon as next year, they just have to stay active in the market. Price should also give up a few more long balls at Fenway than he did a year ago, as his 7.8 percent homer-to-fly rate looks like an outlier, especially considering there was no insane dip in the amount of fly balls he allowed. With Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo, the Red Sox have the makings of an elite defensive outfield. Price will earn an average of $31 million per season. Ramirez’ expensive counterpart, Pablo Sandoval, can’t possibly be much worse at third base after owning a steady track record of defensive adequacy before this season.
The team would spend about $28 million per year for all three of the aforementioned players.
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David Price’s deal is by far the most lucrative Boston has ever given to a pitcher.
