David Price stayed in the news the day before Thanksgiving as speculation continued about which team will eventually sign the lefty.
According to a report from Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs, Red Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers and Giants have “all shown major interest” in Price. Despite reports early in the week, the Blue Jays “are not expected to be a major factor in his free agency.” Toronto is reportedly not going “to be playing on the top free agent pitchers.”
The Cubs have been seen as the favorites to sign Price for quite some time. Price has an excellent relationship with Joe Maddon and “the Cubs project a fun vibe with their youthful roster” according to Ken Rosenthal.
The Red Sox are expected to make the largest bid for Price according to Buster Olney. Dave Dombrowski is focused on adding an Ace to the rotation through free agency. Dombrowski knows Price well, after all he was his general manager the entire time Price was in Detroit. It is unknown if Price wants to pitch in Boston, Olney explained, but past issues between him and David Ortiz are not believed to be an obstacle. The Red Sox might “need to crush the field with their bid in order to land him.”
Ken Rosenthal reported that “Price probably does not consider the Red Sox his first choice, but if the Sox outbid the Cubs by say, $30 million, hello Boston.”
The Dodgers have ties to Price because of Andrew Friedman, but some have suggested the Dodgers would not want a rotation full of lefties.
The Giants and Cardinals do not have a direct connection to Price. But the Giants have an excellent organization with one of the game’s best managers. Bruce Bochy has created “one of the strongest clubhouse cultures in the game.” And according to Ken Rosenthal, “Major Leaguers love playing in St. Louis.”
David Price is telling all of the teams he talks to that he would like to play for them according to Buster Olney. If that is the case, reports will continue to surface that Price prefers one team over another … or one team may be the frontrunner of the group of teams interested in signing Price.
There will be a team in the next few weeks that makes a six- or seven-year commitment to David Price with a contract that has an average annual value of between $26 and $32 million. Will it be the Cubs, Red Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers or Giants? Maybe the Blue Jays? And of course, at some point the Mystery Team will be involved in the David Price sweepstakes.
Stay Tuned …