Red Sox outbid Cards for Price

Price, 18-5 overall last season, was a key contributor for the Blue Jays down the stretch, going 9-1 with an ERA of.230, but he was winless as a starter in the postseason.

Kimbrel is arguably one of the top 3 closers in the game.

David Price teed off Tuesday morning at a charity golf tournament in Las Vegas believing he would be spending the next seven years pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants are each 12-1. It’s no secret that the Yankees are taking a back seat on the top tier of free agent pitchers and had their eyes set on the second tier of guys like Jeff Samardzija and Wei-Yin Chen.

The Cubs, who signed Lester to a six-year, $155 million contract a year ago, weren’t close.

Cleveland signed free agent reliever Joba Chamberlain to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

And while Mozeliak continues to court very expensive free-agent right fielder Jason Heyward and possibly covets super utilityman Ben Zobrist, whose value clearly is appreciating on the open market, the Cardinals face this reality: There will be no discounts on starting pitching this offseason. The left-handed hitting Davis, who can play the outfield, led the majors in homers (47) and strikeouts (208) last season.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the deal – the largest ever for a pitcher – is pending a physical. I generally prefer to take NL pitchers for my staff anchors, but Price is one of the few arms who is worth a breaking of the rules. Price, unlike Pujols, will likely still be playing at the end of those seven years, but it won’t be a surprise at all to see him finish them somewhere other than Boston.

“I could go on forever”. Unless Dombrowski keeps trading more prospects for relievers. Only time will give us the answer to those questions.

Price will be the ace of a Red Sox rotation that features Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, Eduardo Rodriguez and Joe Kelly. It’s only early December.

That’s also why comparisons to the deals given to lesser pitchers miss the point, whether you’re talking about Jordan Zimmermann or Jon Lester. It’s been than not doing anything.

Dombrowski didn’t just fill Boston’s voids, he got arguably the best player available at each position and did so with what seems to be wise deals. It’s now up to the players to go out and perform. When David was playing for the Tigers in 2014, Dave Dombrowski was serving as the general manager in Detroit.