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David Price

Quick Hits: Brewers, Garcia, Phillies, Bumgarner, Red Sox, Price

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The Brewers are “trying hard” to bring Avisail Garcia to Milwaukee, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Earlier, Jose F. Rivera of ESPN Deportes put the Brewers close to a deal with the Mato Sports Management client. Garcia would figure to be a good fit to share time in the outfield with the lefty-hitting Ben Gamel. Garcia has played mostly right field in his career, a few spot starts in left notwithstanding. If indeed he does sign with the Brewers, it could mean moving Christian Yelich back to left. Ryan Braun is also an option for the outfield, though as of right now he’s penciled in for the lion’s share of starts at first base.

  • Having nabbed a couple of former New York athletes in Zack Wheeler and Didi Gregorius, the Phillies are near their spending limit for 2019. Together, Wheeler and Gregorius add $37.6MM to Philly’s luxury tax ledger for 2019. Estimates put the Phillies right up against the $208MM tax threshold, putting some added emphasis to any further moves made this winter. Still, execs from around the league believe they are open to further spending, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The Phillies will continue to look for “opportunistic” signings. It’s unlikely, then, that the Phillies would be in on Madison Bumgarner, given the league-wide interest in the lefty and the hefty contract he is likely to secure.
  • Sneaking under the luxury tax remains a “realistic” goal for the Red Sox, per The Athletic’s Chad Jennings. The new regime led by Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom took a more egalitarian approach to the winter meetings than in recent years. Boston took the time to gauge the lay of the land rather than strike hard for a specific target. Moving all or most of the three-years, $96MM owed to David Price is still the quickest path to ducking the tax, but Bloom is resistant to making Price’s contract more palatable by attaching prospects. They are, however, willing to pay down Price’s contract to get it closer to $20MM per year rather than the current $32MM. Until Price does get moved, expect more of the same as the Red Sox will continue to work around the margins to tweak the roster.

Latest On David Price Trade Talks

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It seems more and more plausible that the Red Sox will end up working out a deal involving lefty David Price, MLB.com’s Mark Feisand reports. The Padres, Cardinals, White Sox, Reds, and Angels have all shown varying degrees of interest in the 34-year-old, per the report.

Price is still owed $32MM a year for the next three seasons. That’s a big chunk of change for a 34-year-old who has made just 63 starts over the past three seasons — including 22 starts in a 2019 campaign that was cut short by elbow and wrist issues. Price was the embodiment of durability from 2010-16, pacing the Major Leagues with 1529 1/3 innings over that seven-year stretch, but he’s totaled just 358 frames over the past three seasons.

When on the field, of course, Price remains an effective pitcher — albeit one whose weighty annual salary no longer aligns with his rate of compensation. Dating back to 2017, Price owns a 3.75 ERA and 3.82 FIP. The 2019 season resulted in one of the worst ERAs of Price’s career (4.28), but he did give some reason for optimism with a career-high 10.7 K/9 and 28 percent strikeout rate. Price’s control remained solid (2.7 BB/9, seven percent walk rate), and his 21.0 K-BB% was the second-best of his career. Stranding runners was an issue, and a career-high .336 average on balls in play against him assuredly did Price no favors. Ultimately, though, Red Sox ownership’s desire to drop back below the luxury tax line is the driving factor in moving Price, whose seven-year, $217MM contract comes with a $31MM annual luxury hit.

Feinsand notes that the Red Sox have no desire to attach a desirable young player such as Andrew Benintendi to Price in order to simply shed the remainder of his contract. The Athletic’s Chad Jennings offers a similar sentiment (subscription required). “I don’t think we’d ever want to rule anything out,” chief baseball office Chaim Bloom of parting with prospects to help facilitate a Price trade (quote via Jennings). “But so much of what we’re always going to be trying to accomplish, but certainly now, is to make sure we have as strong a farm system as possible.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Sox would be forced to simply include cash along with Price in a trade. The Boston organization could certainly acquire another unpalatable contract in return, thus helping to . The Padres have discussed the possibility of including Wil Myers in a deal, for instance, although there’s no indication that such talks gained any traction. Myers himself is owed a regrettable $61MM over the next three seasons and just wrapped up an ugly .239/.321/.418 effort, striking out in 34.2 percent of his plate appearances along the way.

Trade Rumors: Rangers, Smith, Lowrie, Blue Jays, Frazier, Cubs

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The Athletics aren’t the only AL West team interested in Jed Lowrie’s services, as the Rangers have been in talks with the Mets about a deal that would send both Lowrie and Dominic Smith to the Lone Star State, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (subscription required).  However, “talks to this point have failed to progress” between the two clubs.  It’s fair to guess that Smith was the Rangers’ real target in these negotiations, as Smith would be the sweetener added to the deal in exchange for the Rangers assuming most or all of the remaining $12MM on Lowrie’s contract.  New York is reportedly trying to create payroll space by shopping high-priced names like Lowrie or Jeurys Familia to other teams.

Smith is perhaps a bit of a curious fit for the Rangers, given that Texas already has a plethora of left-handed hitting first base/DH/corner outfield types, and only just dealt from that surplus in sending Nomar Mazara to the White Sox.  Still, adding a 24-year-old with five seasons of control has obvious value for the Rangers, as Shin-Soo Choo’s contract is up after the 2020 campaign, and Ronald Guzman could become expendable in the event of Smith joining the roster.  While Lowrie missed virtually all of 2019 due to injury, he also offers more to Texas than just a salary dump if he’s able to stay healthy.  If Lowrie was able to recapture anything close to his 2017-18 form, he’d represent a good third base answer if the Rangers weren’t able to sign Josh Donaldson.

More trade talk as we near the end of the Winter Meetings…

  • Though the Blue Jays have been mostly linked to free agents this winter, the club is apparently being just as diligent on the trade front, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes.  In addition to Toronto’s known interest in Yankees southpaw J.A. Happ, the Jays have checked in with the Red Sox about David Price and Jackie Bradley Jr., and with the Pirates about right-hander Chris Archer and Joe Musgrove.  It doesn’t seem like any of these particular options are close, however, as Davidi notes that “the cost in both dollars and prospect capital remains too high” for Price, Bradley, and Happ.  The Jays and Pirates have been speculatively linked as trade partners since Ben Cherington recently went from Toronto’s front office to the GM chair in Pittsburgh, though this familiarity may not necessarily be a plus.  As Davidi puts it, Cherington “may think too similarly to his former colleagues for a deal to be struck.”
  • As the Pirates weigh a lot of interest in Adam Frazier, the Athletics are involved but perhaps no better than Pittsburgh’s third option as a trade partner, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports (Twitter link).  The left-handed hitting Frazier would be an ideal fit to help balance out Oakland’s heavily right-handed lineup, and would provide some experience to a young collection of second base candidates.  Frazier isn’t old himself (he is a few days away from his 28th birthday) and is still controllable through three years of arbitration eligibility.
  • While the Cubs are reportedly working hard towards swinging some (potentially major) trades, the possibility exists that the 2020 roster will look a lot like last year’s edition, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times and other media.  “The makings of a very good team is currently under control on our roster, with a chance to win a division.  And do that, and you have a chance to have a great October,” Epstein said, though “status quo is not a bad option, but we’re obviously out there looking to make changes and change the dynamic and improve.”  It could be that the Cubs won’t become big players in the trade market until most or all of the top free agents have selected their new teams.  In the case of Kris Bryant, for example, “officials from two teams aggressively trying to fill third-base needs…said the Cubs were asking too much for Bryant to seriously consider him while other options remained available,” Wittenmyer writes.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Gardner, Red Sox, Luxury Tax, Rays, Relocation

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Now that the ink on Gerrit Cole’s contract is dry, Brett Gardner may be next on the docket, per the SNY Network’s Andy Martino. Though there’s no explicit mention of the Yankees, it’s easy to presume Gardner will return to the Bronx for a thirteenth season. At 35-years-old, Gardner had perhaps the best season of his career in 2019, and he did so while capably manning centerfield for much of it. The slap-hitting Gardner put forth an uncharacteristic power display, smashing 28 home runs with a .503 SLG – just the fourth time he’s ever slugged over .400 and the first time he’s ever eclipsed the .430 SLG mark. Before we get sucked into Yankee-mania again, let’s take a look at what’s happening elsewhere in the AL East…

  • The incentives for the Boston Red Sox to slip under the luxury tax line in 2020 are manyfold, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Because of higher penalties for repeat offenders, Boston could save themselves close to $100MM in tax penalties over the course of the next three seasons. Of course, to do so, they’ll need to get under the $208MM tax line. Another benefit takes into account a worst case scenario. Should Mookie Betts sign elsewhere as a free agent next year, the Red Sox could improve their compensation from a pick after the fourth round to a pick after the second round. They could also miss out on a potentially hefty revenue sharing rebate that will come from the phase out of Oakland’s revenue-sharing subsidies. Oakland’s market size has been superseded by lack of revenue, thus placing them among the revenue-sharing recipients, but their free ride is coming to an end. That money will be dispersed among the large-market, revenue-sharing contributors, perhaps proportionately so. That would be a boon for the Red Sox, but they risk forfeiture of the reward if they continue to spend over the tax. Hence, the David Price auction rolls ever onward.
  • The once far-fetched idea of splitting time between Florida and Montreal now may be the only way the Rays maintain a presence in Tampa Bay, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The timeshare agreement won’t likely take effect until 2028. If an agreement can’t be put in place, principal owner Stuart Sternberg is more likely to find a new location for the Rays or sell the team to someone else who will. A full-time move to Montreal is not in the cards, should Sternberg keep the team, as he thinks there are better full-time markets available. Which markets, exactly, is not yet clear. If this timeshare agreement doesn’t come together, however, the Rays may start the search for a new home in earnest. There are many potential snags to the timeshare plan, one of which is that new stadiums would likely have to be built in both markets. It’s hard to imagine how building two stadiums roughly 1,500 miles apart is the best solution, but that’s the plan for now.

David Price Drawing Trade Interest

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10:42pm: The Red Sox haven’t made any progress toward a Price trade, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. The Padres are among the teams they’ve talked to about Price, per Rosenthal.

6:21pm: Even though he’s coming off an injury-laden season and is still owed a significant amount of money, Red Sox left-hander David Price has garnered trade interest from “multiple teams,” Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets.

This isn’t the first time the 34-year-old Price has been in the news this week. His seven-year, $217MM contract, once a record for a pitcher, was toppled by the seven-year, $245MM pact Stephen Strasburg signed with the Nationals on Monday. The Price deal hasn’t fully worked out to the Red Sox’s liking thus far, though he did help the team to a World Series victory in 2018.

More recently, Price put up a decent but unspectacular 4.28 ERA during a 107 1/3-inning 2019 campaign that ended without a playoff berth for the Red Sox. Price made only two starts beyond July as he dealt with arm problems, posted a career-low 92 mph average fastball velocity (down from 92.7 the prior year), and saw his season come to an official end in late September when he underwent minor elbow surgery.

Although last season wasn’t a banner year for the former ace, Price did log an above-average 3.62 FIP with 10.73 K/9 against 2.68 BB/9. Most clubs would sign up for those numbers, albeit at a far more reasonable price than the $96MM Price is owed over the next three years. The Red Sox seem likely to move on from Price if they can get a major portion of that money off their books, as they – led by new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom – work to get under the $208MM luxury tax in 2020. However, it’s going to be difficult, and as Passan notes, jettisoning Price could require eating some of his salary and/or adding a valuable player to the package to convince a team to take him.

GM Meetings Notes: Mets, White Sox, Red Sox

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The Mets have about $20MM to spend to stay under the luxury tax, and though they haven’t ruled out going over for a season, history suggests otherwise, writes MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The rotation is largely set with Cy Young Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Steven Matz locked into the top four spots. Despite the rumblings, GM Brodie Van Wagenen has been adamant about Syndergaard staying put, and as for the fifth rotation spot, relievers Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman are very real candidates. Free agent upgrades are more likely to bolster the bullpen, which is already a man down if Lugo or Gsellman jump to the rotation. Of course, the best upgrade they could hope for would come in the form of a bounceback season from closer Edwin Diaz. Diaz is putting in extra work this winter in Puerto Rico, and for what it’s worth, new manager and fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Beltran “considers mentoring Diaz one of his top priorities.” Here are some more notes coming out of the GM meetings…

  • White Sox GM Rick Hahn attempted to temper expectations before projecting bloated win totals for his club in 2020, per the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan. It’s an exciting time nonetheless for those on the south side of Chicago, with high-end youngsters Nick Madrigal, Luis Robert, and Michael Kopech expected to establish themselves as big leaguers. They have money to spend on pitching or an outfielder, and a tough decision to make on newly-minted gold glover Yolmer Sanchez. Madrigal is likely to unseat Sanchez from his regular role at second, and with Sanchez due to make roughly $6.2MM through arbitration, he’s definitely a possible non-tender. The Sox love him from a character perspective and aren’t eager to kick him curbside, but even with his new hardware in tow, $6.2MM after a .252/.318/.321 season is probably a touch too rich for the ChiSox.
  • The Red Sox are facing a different kind of offseason under the leadership of Chaim Bloom, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Scaling back the payroll is objective A, and the Red Sox are active in trade discussions around just about everyone on the roster. The media has Mookie Betts as the fulcrum of Boston’s trade activity, but he’s expensive on a one-year deal and unlikely to sign an extension, mitigating any trade return and making a deal unlikely. It’s more likely the Red Sox find their desired breathing room by trading from their rotation: David Price, Chris Sale, and/or Nathan Eovaldi. Meanwhile, discussions with free agents are largely on the backburner as they look for creative ways to free up space in the payroll.

David Price Shut Down For Season, Will Undergo Minor Surgery

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Sunday: Manager Alex Cora told reporters, including Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter), that Price will indeed undergo surgery to have the cyst removed next week. The procedure is not expected to be extensive, adds Cotillo (on Twitter). Price is on track to have a normal spring training in 2020.

Wednesday, 4:04pm: Price has officially been shut down for the season, Cora revealed in a radio appearance on WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni and Fauria today (Twitter link).

Wednesday, 1:03am: It appears injured Red Sox left-hander David Price’s season will come to an early end. The Red Sox are “most likely” to shut him down for the rest of 2019, manager Alex Cora told Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and other reporters.

This is anything but a shocking development, as Price’s left wrist continues to trouble him and the Red Sox have nothing of significance to play for at this point. At 9 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot with the regular season nearing a conclusion, the reigning World Series winners won’t have a chance to defend their crown in the playoffs this year.

The fact that Boston hasn’t had Price at full strength is among the reasons this will go in the books as a disappointing season for the club. Price, who has made only two starts since the beginning of August, will wind up with 107 1/3 innings of 4.28 ERA/3.63 FIP pitching on the year. He missed a couple weeks in May with a case of elbow tendinitis, and then hit the IL again last month because of a cyst in his wrist. While Price underwent a cortisone shot then in hopes of alleviating the issue, the 34-year-old still hasn’t found relief.

Price may have to undergo surgery before next season, which will be the fifth of the seven-year, $217MM contract the Red Sox gave him going into 2016. There’s still $96MM remaining on the deal, a pact Price signed when he was amid a long run as an elite workhorse. Although he’s a six-time 200-inning hurler (including in his first year with the Red Sox), Price has only averaged 119 frames per season dating back to 2017.

Red Sox Notes: Betts, Price, J.D., Chavis

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Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed left foot inflammation, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. The issue has kept Betts out since Sept. 12, and with the Red Sox’s playoff hopes all but dead, he doesn’t seem like a lock to return in 2019. As you’d expect, though, Betts is hopeful he’ll see action again this year, Mastrodonato writes. The reigning AL MVP hasn’t been quite as otherworldly as he was during Boston’s championship-winning 2018, but that’s hardly a knock on his performance this season. Betts has still batted a fantastic .293/.391/.527 with 28 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 680 plate appearances, and his 6.3 fWAR ranks eighth among AL position players.

  • One of Betts’ injured teammates, left-hander David Price, doesn’t seem likely to pitch again this season. Price’s ailing left wrist continues to stop him from throwing anything but fastballs, per Mastrodonato. Red Sox brass plans to discuss a potential surgery with Price, though it doesn’t seem as if it would be a major procedure. Price’s wrist has troubled him dating back to last season, and the cortisone shot he underwent on it in early August hasn’t produced the type of results he or Boston hoped for at the time. The 34-year-old has made only two starts and totaled 4 2/3 innings since July ended. His most recent outing came Sept. 1.
  • Designated hitter J.D. Martinez is day-to-day after exiting the Red Sox’s marathon game against the Giants on Tuesday with left groin tightness, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports. It’s conceivable the big-hitting Martinez is in his final days as a Red Sox, as he could decide after the season to opt out of the guaranteed three years and $62.5MM left on the contract he signed going into the 2018 campaign. The 32-year-old Martinez would be taking an enormous gamble in leaving the rest of that deal on the table, but he has arguably made a case to do so by putting up yet another huge season at the plate (albeit nowhere near as impactful as his 2017-18 showings).
  • As of two weeks ago, infielder Michael Chavis looked like a candidate to miss the rest of the season after suffering a setback in his recovery from an oblique strain. It now appears the rookie will play again this year, though, with Mastrodonato noting he could be healthy enough to return over the weekend. Chavis, who hasn’t played since Aug. 11, got off to a sizzling start this season before his production tailed off during the summer.

AL Injury Notes: Astros, Red Sox, Jays, Tigers

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Let’s check in on a few notable injury situations from the American League…

  • Astros reliever Ryan Pressly is closing in on a return, manager A.J. Hinch revealed Tuesday (Twitter links via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). The first-place club has been without Pressly, likely its premier reliever, since he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 22. Expectations then were that Pressly would miss four to six weeks, so it looks as if he’ll come back at the low end of that timeline (if not sooner). In further welcome news for the Astros, shortstop Carlos Correa could join Triple-A Round Rock for a rehab game Friday. The star went down at roughly the same time as Pressly because of a back ailment, though it now appears the two will get back with time to spare before the playoffs as Houston goes for its second championship since 2017.
  • Red Sox left-hander David Price is “feeling better, little by little,” as he works back from a wrist injury, manager Alex Cora said Tuesday (via Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald). Although the Red Sox’s playoff hopes are dashed, Price still plans to pitch again this season. After that, though, he may need to undergo a minor surgery to repair the issue, Hewitt reports. Price’s wrist has been a problem since last month, having limited him to two appearances and a combined 4 2/3 innings since the end of July.
  • The Blue Jays are likely to activate reliever Elvis Luciano from the injured list Wednesday or Thursday, Scott Mitchell of TSN suggests. Luciano, whom the Jays took in last winter’s Rule 5 Draft, would then have enough time to meet the required 90 days on their active roster. If that happens, it’s likely he’ll begin next season at the Double-A level, Mitchell notes. This has been a trying season in the bigs for Luciano, who has been out since the first half of June with a sprained right elbow. Before that, he posted an unappealing 7.16 ERA with more walks (23) than strikeouts (22) in 27 2/3 innings. Of course, considering the 19-year-old Luciano is the youngest player in the majors and hadn’t even pitched above rookie ball before this season, it’s no surprise he has experienced adversity in his first MLB go-around.
  • Tigers utilityman Niko Goodrum is reportedly unlikely to return this season, though he hasn’t given up on a potential late-season comeback, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News tweets. Goodrum hasn’t played in nearly three weeks thanks to an adductor strain, which has taken away a much-needed bright spot for the struggling Tigers. The uber-versatile 27-year-old has slashed .248/.322/.421 with 12 home runs, a dozen steals and 1.9 fWAR across 472 plate appearances.

Red Sox Push Back Price’s Next Start; Chavis Suffers Setback In Rehab

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The Red Sox’ faint Wild Card hopes may have taken another hit, as manager Alex Cora told reporters today that David Price won’t make his scheduled start against the Yankees this weekend after experiencing tightness in his ailing wrist during his most recent bullpen session (Twitter links via the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier). The outlook on infielder Michael Chavis is worse, it seems, as a setback in his rehab from an oblique strain has placed the remainder of the season in jeopardy for the 24-year-old rookie.

Price is currently able to throw fastballs but is having difficulty throwing his cutter and changeup. Cora didn’t offer a specific return date on the lefty, but his scratch will now relegate the Red Sox to a pair of bullpen games against the Yankees in their four-game series this weekend. Recently signed righty Jhoulys Chacin is a candidate to start tomorrow’s game in place of Price, but he’d apparently function as more of an opener than a traditional starter; Chacin hasn’t pitched in a big league game since July 24 and hasn’t pitched more than three innings in an appearance since July 14.

Price only just returned from a month-long absence that stemmed from a cyst in his wrist. The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey tweets that the left-hander underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection while on the injured list that was intended to help break up the cyst. Now, however, the ongoing discomfort in the area makes offseason surgery to remove the cyst a likelier outcome.

Chavis, meanwhile, has been out since Aug. 11 with the oblique injury that now threatens to put an to his rookie campaign. Long one of the organization’s top prospects, Chavis burst onto the scene in late April and turned in an OPS north of .900 through his first month-plus in the big leagues. His offensive contributions have slowly waned in recent months, though, and Chavis was mired in an ugly 5-for-32 slump at the time of his IL placement. In all, he’s given the Sox a respectable .254/.322/.444 line through 382 trips to the plate, clubbing 18 home runs, 10 doubles and a triple along the way.

Even with Chavis now unlikely to return in 2019, Cora noted that there’s still no thought to adding top infield prospect Bobby Dalbec to the Major League roster. Dalbec, also 24, hit .234/.371/.454 with 20 home runs in a very pitcher-friendly setting in Double-A — that slash line was 43 percent better than league average, per wRC+ — before graduating to Triple-A and hitting .257/.301/.478 (91 wRC+) in 123 plate appearances there.

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