Red Sox Rumors: Boston the Favorites to Land David Price

The MLB off season Hot Stove is starting to heat up, and Boston Red Sox rumors are starting to get more specific. With an ace clearly on the wish list, one recent rumor has the Red Sox as the early favorites to land major free agent SP David Price.

While they have a nice roster filled with young and exciting talent, the Boston Red Sox entered this off season with a few specific needs. President Dave Dombrowksi has a history of being aggressive, and no one would be surprised to see him swing for the fences to fill the needs on the Red Sox’s roster.

He has already started big, with the recent trade with the San Diego Padres for closer Craig Kimbrel. The Red Sox’s bullpen was an issue last season, and Dombrowski went out and got one of the premier relief pitchers in baseball. It cost him four good, to even great prospects who could turn out to be MLB stars one day, but that’s the aggressive nature in Dombrowski.

The move obvious hole on the entire Red Sox’s roster is at the top of their rotation. They have some nice mid-tier starting pitchers with guys like Clay Buchholz and Rick Porcello leading the charge, but they clearly lack an impact ace to lead their staff.

After giving up so much prospect depth in the Kimbrel trade, the Red Sox attacking their starting pitching issue in free agency instead of the trade market seems much more likely. Dombrowski himself admitted as much according to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.

"“My thought process is most likely any acquisition we’d make in the starting pitching would first happen as far as the free-agent field is concerned,” Dombrowski said in a conference call following the Kimbrel trade. “You never know, but that would be my guess.”"

With the Red Sox clearly in the market for a top-of-the-line free agent starting pitcher, David Price is the first name that immediately comes to mind. I am sure that the Red Sox will show plenty of interest in Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto and even Jordan Zimmermann, but Price is likely to top their wish list.

According to David Schoenfield of ESPN.com, the Red Sox are in fact the favorites to land Price this off season. Schoenfield ranked the field to acquired Price based on the most likely. He chose the Washington Nationals as a sleeper, mentioned the Los Angeles Dodgers, considered a return to the Toronto Blue Jays and talked about a reunion with Joe Maddon on the Chicago Cubs.

However, it was the Red Sox who Schoenfield listed as the odds on favorites, and here is what he had to say about that possibility:

"New Red Sox POBO (that’s president of baseball operations) Dave Dombrowski made his intentions clear when he traded four prospects, including highly regarded outfielder Manuel Margot, to acquire closer Craig Kimbrel from the Padres: The mandate is to win now, no matter the cost, as everyone thought the Red Sox paid a steep price in talent for Kimbrel. Dombrowski then said he’d sign an ace pitcher rather than further gut the Red Sox system. That has all arrows pointing to Price coming to Boston. The big advantage is Price has spent his entire career in the American League. As good as Greinke has been with the Dodgers, that’s been in the National League and in a pitcher-friendly home park. Johnny Cueto’s late fade with the Royals and his tender elbow earlier in the year have to be concerning, and Jordan Zimmermann is more of a No. 2 who has thrived against the bad offenses of the NL East. Price is the guy the Red Sox most likely want. And for what it’s worth: In 11 career starts at Fenway Park, he has a 1.95 ERA."

Clearly signing a guy like Price would be exciting, and to see the Red Sox specifically get mentioned as the favorite is great. That being said, Price’s free agency is going to last a while, and there will undoubtedly be a ton of interest in the veteran left-hander.

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The Red Sox are clearly prepared to pony up the money for an ace, but make no mistake, David Price is going to get PAID. Tim Dierkes predicted a seven-year, $217 million contract for Price earlier this off season, and many other projections predict about the same.

That projection would make Price the highest paid pitcher of all-time. Obviously, those are just projections, but if anything, they tend to be on the low side when it’s all said and done.

Price is going to command a massive contract out of this free agency, and he deserves to do so. He would undoubtedly help the Red Sox in their post season quest the next few seasons, but that contract could easily look ugly a few years down the line, as Price will begin to approach his mid-30s.

Next: Red Sox Need to Look Into Freddie Freeman Trade with Braves

I am not saying I am opposed to the move, but sometimes those contracts get teams in trouble. Remember Carl Crawford?

The Red Sox clearly believe they are in a strong position to compete at a high level, but if they are going to make a serious run, a legitimate ace pitcher will be needed. Price does not necessarily have to be that guy, but he is certainly the most obvious player to lead their rotation.

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