PRICE IS RIGHT!

It was the trade that didn’t happen that had so many Yankee fans upset from July 31^st through the end of October. Why didn’t the Yankees trade for David Price?? Well, we now have the opportunity to right that wrong. As a free agent, he becomes available without having to give up any prized future prospects, but with likely a huge price tag. Most estimates put him in the $200M range. Is he worth it?

In a word – yes! When you look at his talent, how he has performed, and the fact that he is 30 years old, you don’t just walk away from the opportunity to sign him. In his 8-year career, he has won a Cy Young (in 2012), came in second in another year (in 2010), and is considered a strong contender in this year’s voting. He led the American League in ERA this past year and in 2012, and led the American League in strikeouts in 2014. My favorite stat on him is his Quality Starts. Over his career, 69% of all his starts are Quality Starts. The major league average over the same period is just over 50%. Bottom line – he has a career’s worth of proof that he puts his team in a position to win. He’s a left-handed starter to boot, which always helps in Yankee Stadium.

The only real downside to acquiring him is the asking price. If you’ve read my stuff, you know I don’t like high-priced, long-term contracts. They’re hard to unload if the player doesn’t deliver on the promise. I also believe that for your core players, you overpay to get them and you trim the budget in other parts of the team. If I want to invest in the future, I overpay for a core set of premier players and build my rookies around them. Right now, it’s hard to tell who the core players are. Price is the kind of player I would want to build around. Would the Yankees swallow their 6^th $20M+/year contract?

Look, you would have to be crazy to not go after him. At 30 years of age, he has a bunch of years in front of him. Except for his rookie year, he has not had a season with an ERA higher than 3.49 or fewer than 27 starts. He is in his prime and rising – he has 3 consecutive years of more Wins than the year before, a lower ERA than the year before, opponents’ batting average lower than the year before, and a higher QS% than the year before.  The value is there, the potential is there, and if it were up to me, I’d go all in on him.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row






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