Red Sox: What if Boston never overpaid to sign David Price?
A look back at David Price’s tenure with the Boston Red Sox leads us to wonder where the franchise would be if they never signed him to a record deal.
Hind sight is 20 – 20. No one could have predicted that David Price and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley would have gotten into it on the team plane. No one could have foreseen that Price would have also gotten into it with journalist Evan Drellich. Let’s take a trip down memory lane for the 2015 season. A year after adding Hanley Ramirez to play left field and third baseman Pablo Sandoval, the Sox were lacking in the offensive department.
No hitter had more than 19 long balls during the course of the season outside of their longtime leader, David Ortiz. It didn’t seem to matter what the team did, they could not stay healthy. Ramirez hit his last home run on July 11 and then was eventually shut down on August 26, ending his season. Sandoval struggled mightily, never fully getting comfortable in Boston. He too was shut down on September 20 less than a month after the other new addition was done.
The team was simply put, not catching any breaks. Their pitching staff also wasn’t anything special. Rick Porcello wasn’t getting it done either and this after signing an $82.5 million deal through 2019 to stay in Boston the day before Opening Day. Clay Buchholz was damaged goods in what felt like every season. Wade Miley ended up being the team leader in wins with 11. Two pitchers on the staff have surpassed that now with over a month left in the season.
The Addition of Left-Hander David Price
The Red Sox had outbid several clubs in acquiring Price’s services. Some were shocked as this was the same guy that plunked Ortiz in the past causing a bit of bad blood. But then again, some forgot that Porcello drilled Kevin Youkilis in the past as well. Perhaps all was forgiven. The Red Sox had finally come to terms with Price on a mega contract deal worth $217 million over the next seven seasons with an opt out in 2018.
The St. Louis Cardinals had also put in a bid for his services at $180 million for 7 years. The difference between the two? Just the $37 million dollars more. Price chased the bank and found himself in the American League East division for the third time in career. Was it all worth it? The pressure was surely higher in Boston than it ever would have been in Toronto or Tampa Bay. Neither club really had a chance as long as the Red Sox and Yankees were in the same division.
Another last place finish would not have been deemed acceptable for the Sox, they needed to do something. Price had always been great during the regular season. The postseason, however, was a different story. Price had tasted the ALDS, ALCS, and World Series and oddly enough had recorded one of his two wins against the Sox back in 2012 during the ALCS. Still, since 2013, Price has had one bad start after another in the playoffs. Clearly, something that needed to change.
Price in Boston
The 2016 season campaign started with a quality start, 10 strikeout performance allowing two runs on five hits against the Cleveland Indians. Price went on to go 3 – 0 in April and won four of his first six starts as a member of the Sox. Before May was over, Price had a 7 – 1 record in 11 starts with 79 strike outs in 68 2/3 innings with a disastrous 5.11 ERA. The following two months went in the absolute opposite direction for Price who couldn’t seem to make the right adjustments.
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Over the course of June and July, Price went 2 – 6. While managing to lower his ERA down to 4.26, he still gave up eight home runs in June, one more than the first two months combined. The strike out numbers were not a major concern with 74 K’s in 75 innings. The month of July wasn’t any better aside from his 2nd start against his former club. No way the last two months could have been as bad or worse right?
You’d be wrong if you said yes. In 12 starts over the last two months, Price made adjustments and went 4 – 1 each month to combine for an 8 – 2 record with 73 strike outs in 81 1/3rd innings. The strike out numbers had slowly dropped raising perhaps some concern. The biggest concern however was his second to last start of the season against the Yankees. Price got lit up for six runs on 12 hits in 6 1/3rd innings giving up three long balls and only managed to get strike outs.
2016 Regular Season Final Numbers & 2016 Post Season
Price finished the season going 19 – 7 with a 3.99 ERA and had 228 strikeouts in 230 innings pitched. The 230 innings were a league high. Price gave up 30 home runs in 2016, a career worst for him. He also led the league by allowing 227 hits. Was Price showing signs of slowing down from being overtaxed during the regular season? In 2014, Price threw 248 1/3 innings and struck out 271 batters. Price was 28 then and 30 in 2016. Could that be the difference?
In Price’s lone post season appearance of 2016, he registered a loss giving up five runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings. His ERA for the game was an ugly 13.50. No way does that justify his mega contract. He hasn’t done enough to deserve it. The best part of the season for the team was finishing 93 – 69, good enough for 1st place atop the American League East. What was supposed to be a sure bet victory for the Sox turned out to be another loss.
With morale down the team needed more from their $217 million dollar man. Getting $30 million annually for the performance they got was not acceptable. While Red Sox skipper needed to have that type of innings eater out there every 5th start, they might have cost themselves a chance at 2017 unless Price could fully recover. There are definitely a few months of vacation but some players rarely relax during the off-season. 2017 would be a new year, one where Price had better come ready to rock.
Price with the media
Price had several run ins with the media. The first was with journalist Evan Drellich which didn’t go well and then some time later with former Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley. What in the world was he getting all worked about? First things first, you cannot be getting angry at the media when you pitch poorly. No one is going to complain if you only want to talk to the media on days that you pitch. That’s a fair request. You’re also pitching in Boston, a very big market. You need to buck up.
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Run-ins with journalists happen all the time. Was he in the wrong? Depending on Drellich’s exact words, probably not. Was he at fault with the incident involving Eck on the team plane? Absolutely. Rather than giving him the opportunity to defend himself he quickly dismissed him and moved on. It remains to be determined if some members of the team actually clapped when he said what he said. Some people just can’t handle the pressure in Boston.
Carl Crawford and Sandoval’s names come to mind. Both players were complete busts. Was Price on his way to joining the two of them? Considering the money involved and the thought that he was going to only be playing one season as 2017 was almost lost, $60 million for one season is ridiculous. Someone will have to teach him how it works in Boston. If he does opt out in Boston it would create an interesting situation for the team going forward.
David Price in 2017 for Boston
The season started off very badly for the team as news had surfaced that Price was going to begin the season on the disabled list with what was later revealed to be a shoulder injury. Could that injury derail the team long-term? Certainly. Especially, if they were going to be paying a lot for someone who wasn’t going to be performing. The Sox opted to acquire Chris Sale before the season began which has paid dividends beyond recognition.
Price’s season started on May 29 with a no decision, pitching well enough to make people turn their heads. After all, this was the guy that everyone thought was going to be on the shelf for 2017 with Tommy John surgery. Price’s second performance against the Orioles had Sox fans hopeful. Price pitched seven innings of three hit ball allowing one run striking out seven. The only run came around via home run.
Was Price coming back? The ugly ERA bug hit him again as his ERA for the month of June was 4.50. The following month in only three starts his ERA was 2.52. In two of his starts, Price allowed zero runs including once against the Yankees. Things were beginning to look up. In Price’s final start of 2017 against the Angels, he complained about his arm again and was shut down indefinitely. Will Price come back in 2017? That still remains to be determined.
Verdict
The jury is still out on David Price and there have been rumors of him opting out of his contract in hopes that a team out is going to be willing to give him a new 5-6 year deal worth $27-30 million a year. Given his injury in 2017 however, the odds of a team giving him that type of contract is going to decrease unless he makes a great case in 2018. Could he rebound to lead Boston next season along with fellow ace pitchers Porcello and Sale?
By the end of 2017, all three will have a Cy Young Award. With almost 20 wins on the season, an ERA under 3.00 and over 300 strike outs, Sale is headed in that direction. Will we ever see that kind of production out of Price again? That question that has yet to be answered. While some think he is over the hill and is just about done, some still have faith for a comeback. His arm is spent, he’s not throwing hard anymore, he doesn’t care. Those are just some of the things that people are saying about him.
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Price has proved doubters wrong in the past on several occasions. Here’s to hoping that before 2017 is over and 2018 happens that Price can get back to his winning form. In the event that Price tests the free agent market, fans should challenge Dave Dombrowski to not desperately make a gutsy move to resign him immediately. Especially considering how much money is owed to players that are no longer on the team.
Stay tuned for the next “What If” article coming out in two weeks.