Landing Price marks the first major acquisition by Dave Dombrowski, the veteran executive that was hired previous year by Boston to be the president of baseball operations. In my view, this is a bad contract that years down the road will be something the Red Sox wish they hadn’t done, and will more than likely trade him before it’s over.
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Price’s Red Sox contract has an opt out clause after the third season, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, and does not contain any deferred money. But the Red Sox raised their offer to Price and that sealed the deal for the pitcher.
This is what we imagine David Price could be saying to heartbroken Toronto Blue Jays fans. It is hard to believe that Henry has changed his mind over what the data on these types of contracts suggest strongly: Historically, teams wind up overpaying – extravagantly – for the type of production the starter provides in the back-end of the deal.
The New York Yankees desperately need to upgrade in starting pitching, and the one free agent pitcher who was probably the best fit for them is no longer available.
The Sox can offer David Price $217 million but can’t move up their offer up 15 million or so to bring back Lester?
Price was the first overall pick in the 2007 draft and is 104-56 with a 3.09 ERA in eight seasons with Tampa Bay, Detroit and Toronto. The starting rotation of the Red Sox is an easy punching bag for pundits, but the staff performed admirably after a horrid start to the season.
Yes, it was a ton of money (this is the largest deal for a pitcher ever, beating Clayton Kershaw by $2 million), but that’s what it took to get him, and they needed him.
The 30-year old was widely recognized as the top free agent on the market, finishing second in the Cy Young Race behind Houston’s Dallas Keuchel.
Price will fit in nicely at the front of Boston’s rotation, a void that plagued the team during the 2015 season. They could have signed Jon Lester; they sure had the money.
There is only one question that everyone is asking and that is why did the Red Sox pay so much for him? This contract is very comparable to the bad ten year $254 million dollar contract the Angles gave Albert Pujols four years ago, and I expect Boston to get about the same return for the Price contract. Price can, and will, help them get there.
The Red Sox may have seemed to be cheap at times over the last few years, but they always kept their options open.
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This also could have been a strategic move on the Red Sox part.
