The stars are aligning for the Red Sox to sign top free agent David Price, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe writes. Price, he says, “is the guy they want,” with the club seemingly prepared to top $200MM to get a deal done. We’ve heard previously that rival executives expect Boston to top the market for Price. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will be under pressure not only to get a deal done, says Abraham, but to do so before the organization begins hawking tickets on December 12th (just after the conclusion of the Winter Meetings).
Here’s more from the AL East:
- The Blue Jays’ signing of J.A. Happ not only takes them out of the market for Price — as unlikely as that match was — but represents a departure for the club, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca writes. It had been nearly a decade since Toronto gave multiple years to a free agent starter, but under new club president Mark Shapiro the team has already committed both to Happ and Marco Estrada this winter. As Davidi notes, the two contracts are hardly monumental risks in the broader league-wide spending context.
- While average annual values of over $10MM are now unsurprising even for back-of-the-rotation free agent arms, Davidi goes on to explain that those commitments still have a significant impact on the payroll. He estimates that the club is already looking at around $135MM in Opening Day payroll — assuming it tenders contracts to the team’s ten arbitration-eligible players. Toronto would likely not have much added space to work with, then, unless some trimming is performed.
- Meanwhile, Shapiro and the Blue Jays have apparently begun interviewing candidates for the team’s full-time GM position. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter that Royals assistant GM Rene Francisco has interviewed for the position, which is being filled by Tony LaCava on an interim basis.
- Recent Red Sox righty Justin Masterson is expected to be at full strength this spring after his shoulder cleanup procedure, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. The 30-year-old has struggled badly over the last two years, but he’s had enough success previously that plenty of clubs will be glad to give him a chance at a resurrection.
Until Price signs, I won’t really believe it.
It’s all got this ominous outcome painted all over it. Dombrowski goes out and throws some huge figure at him to try and get him signed right away, then he pulls a Carl Crawford. I don’t like it one tiny bit.
I think it’s worth the risk. Although I hate giving guys $200MM contracts, the Sox need a top tier pitcher. Having solid 2 or 3 guys like Bucholtz as your number 1, isn’t gonna cut it in the MLB. And Crawford, although he sucked it up in Boston, helped them out in the long run. The trade of him, Gonzalez, Beckett, and Nick Punto to the Dodgers was what lead to the World Series title the following year. I like Price, hopefully his postseason stats will change
He’d be your Gm 1 starter in a playoff series, but he wasn’t the Jays choice!
He was the Jays choice to start Game 1 of the ALDS this year.
It was Lester to the Giants last year. Don’t believe any FAs are forgone conclusions.
they will spend big on greinke though
I think it’s between the cubs or dodgers for price
I really don’t think the Cubs are going to push too hard for Price, that would be a lot of money locked up in pitchers especially after they extend Arietta. Dodgers and Giants certainly could make a hard push for him though.
I’m really thinking the cardinals surprise everyone here. There have been a lot of whispers that St Louis is Price’s preferred place to play, and with the money they have available I think they make a pretty solid offer. It’s just a question of does a team like Boston blow everyone else out of the water by so much that Price feels he has to take the money.
I live in Nashville, and not only did Price grow up here and play college here, but he and Sonny Gray and Pedro Alvarez as well as many others come back here to train in the winter. Tim Corbin is someone Price is close too and would likely talk to when considering a career decision. Corbin is from Boston and a big Red Sox fan. He might offer a perspective for Price that people on the outside looking in would not see.
Also, Dombrowski has already acquired Price once so they have a history. If Dombrowski is willing to outspend everyone else, he knows exactly what he’s getting.
It is just too much money for a team that already wasted $300MM+ on Panda AND Hanley AND Porcello.
The Red Sox should be allergic to dollars spent after age 30.
Ummm Porcello is only 26 going on 27.
Right. His problem is he’s just not that good
Only one of those players is over 30.
But those three players’ contracts total less than that amount…
Panda has always had conditioning issue and other than strong playoff performances, has never come close to being an elite player. Hanley, even when he was a superstar, always has had a label as a difficult un coachable player who also had conditioning issues. Porcello getting $20 million a year is a head scratcher all the way around. All three came with some pretty big question marks.
Add in Miley, Masterson, Kelly, and you have one of the worst off season’s in the history of baseball.
I know Kelly was already there, but still was a prominent part of the plan.
Price on the other hand is a great teammate, a great leader, and arguably one of the top 3 or 4 pitchers in the game. He is a guy who can change a clubhouse culture in a great way and also in a head to head matchup, a team would always have to love its’ chances if it had Price on the mound.
I’m not a fan of giving huge multi year contracts, but much like Kershaw, Price is a player that a team can build a pitching staff around, 30 years old or not.
Sorry but Porcello’s contract is not terrible. He isn’t old, and he wasn’t even that bad last year. He was very unlucky, but look at his peripherals, they’re all much lower than his ERA. He will be back to normal next season.
1. Hanley is the only one of those players over 30
2. Porcello’s contract isnt even bad, if you can read past ERA. His peripherals and projections are great, he’s projected for a 3.8 ERA 3fwar season.
3. They have 2 stars in Betts and Bogaerts making the league min as well as Rodriguez, Swihart, and JBJ.
4. They have the ability to increase payroll to over 200mil
So true. Likewise, Tampa Bay has a history of using pitchers too hard in their younger years thereby shortening their effectiveness later in their career. See James Shields
Maybe it’s just because I don’t have anyone willing to overpay me by 50 million dollars, but I personally don’t understand why Price would choose Boston for any amount of money if he has 9 figure offers for teams that he’d much rather pay for.
Well perhaps Boston is a team he Does want to play for? I’m not saying they are his preferred destination, but what makes you think he doesn’t want to go there (with the exception of the small feud with Ortiz)
Not many places he could go where the fans would love him as much. Also, after years of pitching in front of small home crowds, knowing that every time he takes the mound at home he would be pitching in front of a sold out stadium would have to count for something.
Rosenthal reported the 5 teams in on price right now, are the Red Sox, Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals and Cubs. All of those teams have great fans, I can’t see the Red Sox having any edge there.
He wants to be on a winner, and wants to be close to Nashville. Boston while it does have a good tradition of winning was a last place team the last two years.
Derrick Goold reported that his former teammates have said his first choice is St Louis, but the Chicago connection is pretty obvious as well. I’m not saying he wouldn’t go to Boston, but there’s been a lot of reporting that it wouldn’t be his first choice.
A lot of people that I know think St. Louis will be his choice and to me the Cubs make the most sense. I would love for him to go to Boston because I’m not impartial
Maybe not his first choice, but money talks. Its not like Boston is a bad spot either. Huge payroll, loaded farm, tons of young talent, they are set up to be good for the next 5 plus seasons. As you mentioned, they also have a winning past as well.
I want to see how price and ortiz personalities mesh in the red sox clubhouse if the signing does happen. Even though after one year ortiz will be gone and price will have 6 years past that.
If Price signs here I can promise you and you can quote me on that that you will see Ortiz and Price sitting together on his press conf.
Ortiz is playing his last season in MLB, I doubt he figures into Price’s decision whether or not to sign in Boston. I’m sure Ortiz would welcome Price with open arms anywho. He wants to win.
Masterson seems like a good project for the Pirates
All that heat of the moment quibbling goes away pretty fast. They’re both warriors who would like to have warriors around them. It will be fine.
I don’t see Price staying in the A.L East. But if he did, Fenway has been good to him so that wouldn’t be a bad place to go.
The “stars are aligning”? Personally, I don’t think contracts for pitchers for this duration are at all smart, but the Red Sox certainly have the money for it and if they have the desire, they can pay him virtually anything he asks.
i don’t attach very much mystique to him playing one place or another–he’s going to want to be on very good team that is playoff-bound annually. That might make St. Louis a slight favorite. Since Price is going to have a lot of options, all of which will be attached to massive contracts, he may, in the end, opt for slightly less and a comfortable environment–maybe a Scherzer-like deal with some money deferred. They are pretty close in talent and accomplishment level–i like Scherzer a bit better, but it’s not a huge difference.
I mean, its not like Boston is a bad spot. They are set up to really be a good team in the coming seasons. Big payroll, great farm, a lot of good young players, ect. FWIW they were ranked having the 3rd best likley future behind the Dodges and Cubs.
He could prefer the NL, and to pitch in a bigger park, but at the end of the day, money talks, especially when the team thats offering it has a legit chance of being a good team now and for the next 5 or so seasons.
Price is going to make so much money that he can decide where he wants to be, Both the Cardinals and the Cubs can spend–not as much as the Red Sox, but quite a bit. Price has been with three different teams in the past two years, and maybe that might play a role as well. I really don’t know, but if Price isn’t motivated to get the absolute largest dollar he could end up signing elsewhere. Not a dis at the Red Sox, but the Cubs are rising, and the Cardinals always find a way to be in it (12 out of the last 16 years is not bad).
Huge gamble to sign Price at $200 Million at age 30 (31 in August) for 6 or 7 years. I hope I’m wrong, but I would be very very concerned about him aging well if I were the Sox (or any other interested team).
The original rumor with regard to a GM stating the Red Sox would outbid everyone was that the Red Sox would have to pay $30-$40M more to get Price to over look how much he dislikes Boston. Only in the the east coast media would this evolve into the BoSox are committed to spend that much more than any other bidders. Why would the Red Sox outbid all other teams by that much? First, there will not be many bidders. Remember that Max Scherzer and the Nationals didn’t reach their $210M deal until mid to late January and there were no other teams lined up for Mr. Scherzer’s services. Every agent and front office knows the value of the contract that Price should sign. Secondly, any interested teams – 2-3 teams at the most – will be in that range with their offers and Price will decide where he wants to play.
I truly believe that Price isn’t all the Sox are looking at. Dembroski is looking at Price and Cueto as a package. I also believe there’s a deal soon to be made with the Padres after the major signings: Pablo Sandoval and Jackie Bradley Jr. for James Shields. That’s the Red Sox offseason right there
The ego of the Red Sox media is just astonishing. Any major market team can make a satisfactory financial offer to David Price. Price is already making just shy of $20M annually. This isn’t like the old days when New York and Boston had the biggest check books. It’s about where David Price wants to pitch assuming he gets $30M over 7yrs. Here’s what Price said about Boston this past summer and it doesn’t seem like he’s coming to Boston:
“I Definitely get my fair share of hatred from this fan base as well,” Price told Tomase of Boston. “The amount of hatred I get from this fan base blows every other fan base away. Some of the things I get, I just know. Whenever I see something on Twitter, I know where it’s from. That’s part of it. I want no part of that. I want to be somewhere where I’m wanted by the entire fan base, not just half of it.”
The ego of the Red Sox media is just astonishing. Any major market team can make a satisfactory financial offer to David Price. Price is already making just shy of $20M annually. This isn’t like the old days when New York and Boston had the biggest check books. It’s about where David Price wants to pitch assuming he gets $30M over 7yrs. Here’s what Price said about Boston this past summer and it doesn’t seem like he’s coming to Boston:
“I Definitely get my fair share of hatred from this fan base as well,” Price told Tomase of Boston. “The
amount of hatred I get from this fan base blows every other fan base away. Some of the things I get, I just know. Whenever I see something on Twitter, I know where it’s from. That’s part of it. I want no part of that. I want to be somewhere where I’m wanted by the entire fan base, not just half of it.”