Price would be the ace not just on the Red Sox, but on virtually any team in baseball. “But when you go into the winter meetings, you never know what happens”.
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When news broke that David Price had agreed to a seven-year deal with the Red Sox, it led to immediate concern among Red Sox Nation about how David Ortiz would react, considering the players’ rocky history over the past three years. He crushed lefties to the tune of.327/.397/.575, but the Yankees opted to trade for 26-year-old Aaron Hicks to fill that role next season, allowing Young to move elsewhere. Clayton Kershaw’s contract extension with the Dodgers was for $215 million.
Consider what Price has done since breaking out and winning the AL Cy Young award in 2012: 124 starts, 2.90 ERA, 133 ERA+, 4.98 K/BB ratio, 217 innings per season, 73.4 percent quality starts, 7.0 innings per start, average Game Score of 60.
If the reports are true then the news is hard to swallow: David Price has agreed to a seven-year, $217-million United States deal with (and this is the part that really hurts) AL East division rival Boston Red Sox. After years of seeing the Yankees make their earth-shattering deals, and now seeing how it’s hurting them in the long run, the Red Sox have continued to make similar deals. Could the team add Ben Zobrist to replace Starlin Castro, thus upgrading its defense at second base and contact hitting?
Which of these assets help restock the farm system, that by no means was depleted rather than weakened by the acquisition of All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel, or give him a return to help restock the bullpen?
After this season, NY wanted to retain him, but the decision to get the younger Aaron Hicks early November in a trade that sent catcher John Ryan Murphy to Minnesota forced them to let him go. Dombrowski has had a hand in all three of Price’s moves the past two years. A left-hander who spent most of his career with Tampa Bay and finished last season with Toronto, Price is one of baseball’s elite pitchers.
By going all-in on Price, they signal they are going all-out not just to improve, but to contend. The Hot Stove League is underway with no shortage of story lines and debate topics for fans who care about their team, 12 months a year. If you could sign Price to 3/90, you would.
Price bolsters a rotation that has lacked an ace since the Red Sox balked at the asking price for Jon Lester, who signed a six-year, $155 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. No matter what rumors were circulating about Price’s preference in respect of where to play, this was – purely and simply – always about who would pay him the most.
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You’d like a 2016 projection to get your Price business started, and here’s my best guess: 17 wins, 2.89 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 219 strikeouts. His 63 1/3 innings are a small sample size when compared to what happens over the course of a regular season.
