The Price was right for the Boston Red Sox.
Pitcher David Price signed a seven-year, $217 million contract with the Red Sox on Tuesday. The deal unites the lefty with the man who traded for him in Detroit, Dave Dombrowski, and puts him in the park where his most consistent success has come.
The 30-year-old led the American League with a 2.45 ERA last season. He went 18-5 over the course of a season split between the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays. His 9-1 record for Toronto helped propel the team into the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. Price came in second place in AL Cy Young Award voting behind Dallas Keuchel this past season.
Price win the prestigious pitching award in 2012. He boasts a career record of 104-56 with a 3.09 ERA.
The contract makes Price the highest paid pitcher in Major League Baseball history. The $31 million a year gives the pitcher parity with the highest paid position player, former Tigers teammate Miguel Cabrera.
The signing makes strange bedfellows of Price and Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. The designated hitter belted two home runs off Price in a 2014 game. Price belted him with a pitch. The pitcher took offense to Big Papi’s leisurely stroll around the bases, accusing the veteran of behaving as though he were “bigger than the game of baseball.” Ortiz accused Price of “acting like a little girl.”
“I’m not going to get hit again,” Ortiz told reporters. “Not by [Price]. He did it on purpose. He punked me, and that’s very disrespectful. I’m a grown-ass man. I’ve been around the league a long time, and I know how to take care of business on my own.”
The Red Sox taking care of business by signing a legitimate ace that boosts a starting staff that placed 26th in runs allowed last season. And since Ortiz plays his last season in 2016, Price’s presence bolstering Big Papi’s chances for a fourth ring likely makes his a pleasant rather than unwelcome arrival.
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