David Price is the crown jewel of the off season. He is a former Cy Young winner in the American League and one of the best pitchers in the sport.
The Tampa Bay Rays have already been in this situation before with James Shields who was traded to the Kansas City Royals last off season. The Royals gave up Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery and Patrick Leonard. Some other pieces were involved, but it was a huge haul for Tampa Bay getting one of the best prospects in baseball.
The Seattle Mariners are a team that have the pieces to get a deal done. They are clearly in win-now mode after the acquisition of Robinson Cano. Taijuan Walker is one of the best young pitching prospects in the game. He fits what Tampa Bay needs, young pitching that is cost effective. Danny Hultzen also fits the bill. Chris Taylor also a well-regarded prospect in the Seattle organization. He could be the shortstop of the future if he would be included in a package.
The team doesn’t want to include Walker in an offer, so their ammunition would be built around position players. They need to include him to get Price. There is news that Price may not want to resign with Seattle. That will be an important aspect of the deal and Seattle has organizational issues that may prevent it from happening.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are not afraid of making a splashy trade or acquisition. They have the money to extend Price, but they lack the farm system to appeal to Tampa Bay. Their big trade chip is Matt Kemp and he will cost too much for Tampa.
The Toronto Blue Jays, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants have also been linked to Price. Toronto has enough prospects to get it done, but I wonder if they are a little weary from missing on R.A. Dickey last off season. Arizona could get it done, but they would have to part with Patrick Corbin and some other pieces. San Francisco has a solid farm system but they may be done with their off season shopping for the moment.
Any team that wants Price will have to pay a premium and Tampa can always wait until the deadline or next off season to make the trade. It will be interesting what the team can get for him.
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