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Potential David Price Alternatives For The Red Sox

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As the Red Sox await news on the fate of left-hander David Price, ESPN’s Buster Olney runs down the list of options for Boston in the event that Price is forced to sit out part of or all of the 2017 season (ESPN Insider subscription required and recommended). The Sox do still have five big league starters in the form of Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright, though each has come with recent injury troubles. Beyond that, the team is lacking in quality depth options, though Henry Owens, Brian Johnson, Roenis Elias and others are present in Pawtucket. Free agents such as Doug Fister, Colby Lewis and Jake Peavy are still on the market, and Jose Quintana, of course, looms on the trade market. Olney notes that the Red Sox would likely have to utilize top prospect Rafael Devers as the headliner in a theoretical Quintana deal, however.

  • Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes that the Red Sox’ lack of depth has been obvious all winter and opines that the team took an unnecessary gamble by relying so internal options and not signing more depth. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski suggested to him, however, that Boston’s glut of quality big league arms made it difficult to lure depth options to sign with the Red Sox this winter. Boston couldn’t guarantee any free-agent starter a spot in its rotation and couldn’t even offer much hope of being the first line of defense against an injury. Silverman notes that trading Clay Buchholz in a salary dump could come back to haunt the Sox, but Dombrowski said that even in light of a potential Price injury, he doesn’t regret moving Buchholz when he did. “You’re not going to just hold on to somebody in case things take place later on,” he told Silverman, also adding that it’s difficult to move that much salary this time of year.

David Price Seeking Second Opinion Following Elbow MRI

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March 3: Farrell said the Red Sox won’t get further word on Price’s elbow until at least the late afternoon today, tweets Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com.

March 2, 3:43pm: Price will receive opinions from both Andrews and ElAttrache in Indianapolis tomorrow, tweets Britton. (The renowned surgeons are both there for this week’s NFL combine.) Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets that Farrell said the initial MRI revealed some swelling and fluid buildup but offered “inconclusive” results overall. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that Price himself is optimistic that the injury isn’t serious.

9:48am: There is “serious concern” that Price may require Tommy John surgery, Bowden tweets.

8:46am: The Red Sox are holding their breath after sending in key lefty David Price for an MRI, as Jim Bowden of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). For now, Price will just be held out of his next scheduled start while he heads for a second opinion.

The broader outlook is not known, but manager John Farrell says there is concern given the degree of soreness Price is experiencing. And while it’s far from clear whether there’s reason yet to believe he could be headed for surgery, the veteran lefty is already slated to see one or both of the game’s foremost Tommy John experts — Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache — for a second opinion, per Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (via Twitter).

Price, 31, signed a record-setting seven-year, $217MM with the Red Sox last winter. The agreement includes an opt-out opportunity after the 2018 campaign. He has earned only $30MM of the total thus far; needless to say, Boston has a lot riding on the lefty, both now and in the future.

While his first season with the Red Sox didn’t pan out quite as hoped, with Price recording only a 3.99 ERA, he still managed to throw a typically robust 230 frames. Boston has hoped that he and newly added starter Chris Sale would provide a historically excellent 1-2 lefty punch, with reigning AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello rounding out a top-flight front of the rotation.

If the worst case comes to pass for Price, then the club does have three arms to round out the staff — Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz, and Steven Wright (assuming all remain on track with their respective health issues) — but little in the way of certainty beyond that. Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski previously shipped out veteran Clay Buchholz, but he has expressed confidence in the team’s remaining depth.

Red Sox Renew Mookie Betts For $950K

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The Red Sox have renewed outfielder Mookie Betts’ contract at a healthy $950K price, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). Betts, 24, has established himself as one of the game’s best players and is fresh off of an outstanding 2016 season in which he slashed .318/.363/.534 with 31 home runs and 26 stolen bases.

On the heels of that effort, Betts will take home the second-highest amount ever given to a 2+ service-class player who wasn’t eligible for arbitration, falling shy only of Mike Trout’s 2014 payday of $1MM. Nevertheless, the Red Sox weren’t able to get him to sign his name to the agreement. The club had the right to renew him at whatever amount it preferred, so long as it met or exceeded the league minimum salary, so it’s not as if he had much leverage. But it’s still somewhat notable that Betts was the organization’s only player to make the symbolic gesture of forcing the club to renew him.

That being said, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says that he did not sense any bad feelings between the sides during negotiations, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports (Twitter links). Certainly, the club could have taken a harsher stance in setting the final number, but obviously had no interest in making a point at the expense of its relationship with a key player. As things turned out, says Betts, there’s no animosity on his part. (Via Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, on Twitter.)

It would not be surprising to see the sides back at the bargaining table sooner rather than later. If nothing else, there’ll be a hefty arbitration salary to negotiate next winter, but it’s also possible to imagine that the sides will explore a longer-term deal. While Boston enjoys three years of control over Betts beyond the upcoming season, the team’s leverage will wane as he gets closer to free agency and increases his earnings through the arb process.

Red Sox Still Hosting Rotation Battle

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  • While Red Sox camp has largely been a quiet affair, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing at stake, as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. In particular, the battle over the final two rotation jobs still appears unresolved. Cafardo takes an interesting look at the situation, with Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright discussing their approach this spring. Young lefty Eduardo Rodriguez is the third competitor for a rotation spot.
  • Meanwhile, Red Sox southpaw David Price is fully assured a spot on the staff. But he will need to make a slight adaptation to his pitching approach. As ESPN.com’s Buster Olney explains, the league has asked Price (and others with a similar delivery) to make clear to umps whether they are working from the stretch or the windup when there’s a runner on third.

Details On Boston's Hector Velazquez Acquisition

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  • The cost for the Red Sox to purchase right-hander Hector Velazquez from the Mexican League last week was just $30K, reports Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Velazquez’s pact with the Red Sox includes escalators based on consecutive days he spends on Boston’s roster, and one general manager told Drellich it’s the first such deal he has seen. Red Sox front office members Allard Baird, Jared Banner, Marcus Cuellar and Edgar Perez were all involved in the signing, per Drellich. Velazquez is familiar with Cuellar, notes Drellich, which helped the Sox beat out other teams (including the Yankees) for his services.

Why The Red Sox Didn't Try Blake Swihart At Third Base

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  • With Blake Swihart facing a tough path to playing time as a catcher, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald wonders why the Red Sox didn’t experiment with Swihart at third base.  Swihart has long been cited for his athletic ability and his potential to play all over the diamond, and the Sox are facing uncertainty at the hot corner as Pablo Sandoval attempts to revive his career.  As president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski explained, however, the Red Sox have Rafael Devers as the top future prospect at third, and Swihart is more valuable as a long-term piece for Boston if he can stick behind the plate.  “I think Blake has a chance to be, with the type of offensive capabilities and athletic capabilities he has, if he can make that transition on a permanent basis to catching, that’s a real plus for the organization….Then as we go into the future, if he can be our catcher for us, he can be our catcher for a lengthy time period,” Dombrowski said.

Devers, Travis Have Key Roles In Red Sox Future

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  • As the Red Sox have moved to cash in prospect assets for talented major leaguers since the arrival of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, the remaining young players have seemingly taken on added importance to the club’s future. As Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes, the Sox refused to part with third baseman Rafael Devers in the deal that ultimately netted Chris Sale. He and first baseman Sam Travis — who missed a significant chunk of 2016 due to knee surgery — aren’t expected to head north with the club out of camp, but could play a major role not long from now. As Dombrowski observes: “The best clubs are constantly breaking in young players on a consistent basis, year in, year out. And you also need it from a cost basis perspective.”

Red Sox Notes: Info Systems, Koji, Panda, Pomeranz

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The Red Sox are embarking upon a transition from their old information system (“Carmine”) to a new one (“Beacon”) that will support all of the team’s critical analytics work, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes that the club . The changing nature of data, a shifting focus in analyzing it, and new means of digesting it have all occasioned the initiative, as Speier explains. Readers interested in that element of the baseball decisionmaking process, or fans of the club, will want to give the piece a full read.

Here’s more out of Boston:

  • The Red Sox placed a bid on veteran reliever Koji Uehara before he signed on with the Cubs, manager John Farrell tells Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). Farrell hinted that it fell shy of the $6MM guaranteed by Chicago. The offer, he said, was not “to what [Uehara] expected.” Boston acquired a new setup option in Tyler Thornburg before Uehara put pen to paper with the Cubs, but it’s unclear just when those discussions took place.
  • We’ve already seen visual evidence of Pablo Sandoval’s improved physique, but it’s not yet clear whether that’ll translate to a full turnaround. There’s hope, though, a loss of weight — along with a healthy shoulder and perhaps renewed focus — will allow the embattled veteran to return to being a productive player. Farrell said today that the expectation is for Sandoval to show an “increase in range maybe some better foot quickness, [and] better body control” in the field, as ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber reports. Of course, he’ll also need to bounce back at the plate.
  • Last year’s Drew Pomeranz drama has spurred a renewed effort to address medical information on a leaguewide basis, as we’ve heard previously and MLBPA chief Tony Clark addressed yesterday with reporters including Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com. With new “checks and balances and accountability and transparency” now in place following the recent round of collective bargaining talks, says Clark, the hope is that positive “changes are being made to the protocols and the system itself.” The Pomeranz situation itself, he said, was regrettable. “To say it’s unfortunate would be an understatement,” said Clark. “We’re hopeful here moving forward with the changes and adjustments that are being made that it won’t happen again.”

Diamondbacks Notes: Miller, Sawdaye, Segura

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Former Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart recently expressed regret for trading a package headlined by Dansby Swanson for Shelby Miller. But the Snakes control Miller for three more years, and Miller is hoping to redeem himself this season, as FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. Miller says he struggled with the pressure of being the marquee player in a high-profile trade. “I wasn’t using my stuff like I did in the years before. I wasn’t as confident in my pitches as I should have been. I really didn’t throw any sinkers. My cutter wasn’t good,” he says. Now, he says, he’s trying to “almost go back to being a Little Leaguer and have fun.” Here’s more out of Arizona.

  • The Diamondbacks’ new braintrust contains a number of former employees of the Red Sox organization, including GM Mike Hazen, manager Torey Lovullo, and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter. The new D’backs front office wants to emulate the Red Sox’ in some respects, Sawdaye tells David Laurila of FanGraphs. “We’re trying to build a culture similar to the one we were used to in Boston,” Sawdaye says. “We want people to want to come to work. We want them to be open with each other and communicate well. A lot of good decisions are made that way — in conjunction with other’s opinions. … We’ve worked on implementing that. It’s something that was maybe not here in the past, or at least it was a little different.” In the same interview, Sawdaye also describes the way the front office has reshaped the Diamondbacks’ analytics and scouting departments.
  • Interestingly, Sawdaye notes that one factor in the Diamondbacks’ big November trade involving Jean Segura and Taijuan Walker this offseason was that the D’backs’ front office was new and therefore didn’t directly experience Segura’s success last season. “[I]n some ways, not being here last year was probably a little helpful,” says Sawdaye. “[H]aving not been here to see how good Segura was, day in and day out, took any bias out. We were able to be more objective with our assessment.”

Latest On Yankees’ Spending, Rivalry With Red Sox

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Yankees GM Brian Cashman tells Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald that he wants his team to develop top talent rather than acquiring it via the free-agent market. The lens of the piece is the Yankees’ rivalry with the Red Sox, which has changed in recent years as the Yankees have backed away somewhat from their previously big-spending ways. Here’s the latest on the Yankees’ current approach, as well as a player the Yankees and Red Sox did compete with one another to acquire.

  • A number of key players, including Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, are set to become free agents in the 2018-19 offseason. But Cashman says the Yankees aren’t building their strategy on the availability of those types of talents. “We’re not planning that way,” says Cashman. “We’re waiting to transition out of some contracts and some older players and then eventually I’m hoping that we develop enough young players that would prevent us from having to go crazy in the free agent market. … Doesn’t mean we won’t participate in free agency, but we’re hoping to develop.” The Yankees, of course, did make a splash in free agency this winter, signing Aroldis Chapman to a record-shattering deal for a reliever. They also added Matt Holliday and Chris Carter. Still, they didn’t dominate the winter the way they have in the recent past, and will head into 2017 with a number of young players at key positions.
  • Going forward, Cashman says he expects to see different teams drive the winter market and the summer trade market depending on the year. “One year it was the Padres, they spent a ton of money,” he says, referring to the 2014-15 offseason, when the Padres made a number of high-profile trades and signed James Shields. “I think it’s every year it’s different, every winter it seems to be different and other clubs emerge and step up, just like at the deadline the Indians stepped up to deals with us. They’re a small market club that typically doesn’t do that. But this was their window time.”
  • While the Yankees/Red Sox free agent arms race isn’t as frenzied as it’s been in years past, the two sides recently did compete for one free agent — Mexican pitcher Hector Velazquez, who went to the Red Sox on a low-profile deal when the Sox purchased his contract from the Piratas de Campeche in the Mexican League. “After the Caribbean Series they told me that the Red Sox were interested,” says Velazquez through a translator. “[S]oon after, Campeche, which is the team that I play for, told me that the Yankees were also interested. The way things in work in Mexico is, Campeche is the one who decides exactly who do you go to. They asked me at the end of the day who I wanted to go to, and I chose the Red Sox because they were the first ones to come to me.”
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