Red Sox sign David Price

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
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deep inside Guido territory
The Red Sox are taking no shortcuts with their rotation this time. According to a source briefed on the negotiations, they agreed on Tuesday on a seven-year, $217 million contract with lefthander David Price.

Price, 30, was one of the two best starters on the free-agent market along with Zack Greinke.
The Sox built a rotation of middling starters last season, a flawed strategy that led to finishing in last place. Dave Dombrowski, an executive with a long history of making splashy deals, was hired as president of baseball operations to make significant changes and was aggressive in doing so.

Price’s deal dwarfs what had been the largest contract for a Red Sox pitcher, both by average annual value and total cost. The previous high was a four-year, $82.5 million extension given to Rick Porcello in April.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/12/01/red-sox-agree-deal-with-pitcher-david-price/Tsv1SM9yjAU1TncmXJpFUN/story.html
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Wow. I didn't want to actually believe they were serious contenders to sign any of the top FA pitchers until it happened. It has happened. Just wow. The money is ridiculous and stupid, but oh well.
 

jimbobim

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When you make someone a priority you like to see it get done. Good for DD and the Sox.
 

johnnywayback

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I was absolutely on board with the strategy of refusing to sign 30-plus pitchers to long-term contracts, focusing on rotation depth, and looking for a cost-controlled ace-in-waiting via trade. And if we were going to abandon that strategy, I wish we could have done it a year ago and signed Lester.

That said: It's not my money, Price absolutely improves the team a ton, and I'm excited to be able to root for him. So, screw it. I'll applaud.
 

chrisfont9

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Wow. I didn't want to actually believe they were serious contenders to sign any of the top FA pitchers until it happened. It has happened. Just wow. The money is ridiculous and stupid, but oh well.
Need 30 WAR to make it an average value, right? His career WAR stands now at 29.2 (bWAR) or 32.0 (fWAR). Likely overpay, but hopefully not by too too much.
 

NoXInNixon

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Mar 24, 2008
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So who gets bumped from the rotation?

Price
Buchholz
Porcello
Miley
Kelly
Edro

There's always the chance Clay could be traded, but I've never been convinced that injury history is predictive, and when healthy he can be tremendous. It would be a crime if EdRo starts the year in Pawtucket. I guess they trade Miley or move Kelly to the bullpen.
 

H78

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That's insane. $217 million ain't what it used to be.
 

Pilgrim

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Absolutely the right move IMO. Always better to pay top price for the guys with no warts than go halfway and end up with the Pablo Sandovals of the world.
 

johnnywayback

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Who says they will want to keep him after three years?
I'm sure they will if it looks like he's going to be a good value the last four years of the contract, but those are the exact circumstances under which he'll opt out.

Not saying the opt-out ruins the deal, but it's clearly in his favor, not ours.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I'm sure they will if it looks like he's going to be a good value the last four years of the contract, but those are the exact circumstances under which he'll opt out.

Not saying the opt-out ruins the deal, but it's clearly in his favor, not ours.
Not saying it's in the team's favor either. But I don't see the harm of it so long as they don't put themselves in the position the Yankees did with both A-Rod and Sabathia and *need* to re-sign him if he opts out. Hopefully by then, they'll have alternative options.
 

LuckyBen

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The only way they will keep him is if they want to lose him. The only way they will lose him is if they want to keep him. That's how optouts work.

Well, I guess we're going to have to find something new to argue about. ;)
Or he pitches three great years and opts out and signs with The Dodgers for big money at 33. I'd be happy with that.
 

mikeford

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I'm sure they will if it looks like he's going to be a good value the last four years of the contract, but those are the exact circumstances under which he'll opt out.

Not saying the opt-out ruins the deal, but it's clearly in his favor, not ours.
Financially it's in his favor but it's also in our favor if he's good enough to wanna test the FA waters again
 

glennhoffmania

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Not saying it's in the team's favor either. But I don't see the harm of it so long as they don't put themselves in the position the Yankees did with both A-Rod and Sabathia and *need* to re-sign him if he opts out. Hopefully by then, they'll have alternative options.
The harm is that it takes away all of the upside potential for the team. If he's worth more he'll opt out and they'll lose a valuable below-market asset. Price has all of the upside in this deal.
 

chrisfont9

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I'm sure they will if it looks like he's going to be a good value the last four years of the contract, but those are the exact circumstances under which he'll opt out.

Not saying the opt-out ruins the deal, but it's clearly in his favor, not ours.
Sure it's good for Price, but for the Sox it's no worse than no opt-out. Either we are stuck with the 7/217 we agreed to in the first place, or we get 4/7ths of it back because someone is willing to even more grossly overpay a 34-year-old pitcher. The only potential downside for the Sox IMHO is if he's a 34-y.o. Cliff Lee and we wish we could just keep him at the original price. But even there, it would mean we got three excellent years from him.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
I hope he's the best pitcher in baseball for 3 years and I hope he opts out. We'll take that back end money and spend it on the next "David Price 7 year/gazillion" and give that guy an opt out.

Love this!
 
Aug 31, 2006
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I was on record saying it would take 8 years and $250 million to lure him to Boston. This deal seems about right for the pitcher and this winter's market. The fact that he signed so soon says to me that his hesitancy about pitching in Boston was overblown. If he didn't want to come her he could have easily waited and got a similar deal from several other clubs, in my opinion.
 

MikeM

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Even while fully acknowledging that $217 is a lot of money/risk, this is really a best case scenario of the "have to get an ace" game playing out imo. Could of played out a lot worse.

Bravo to DD for getting his guys early as well.