David Price, a Dodgers pitcher and former top draft pick by the Rays, will watch the World Series between those two teams from his home.
Price opted out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 MLB season. That means he still hasn't made his Dodgers debut after being acquired from the Boston Red Sox in the offseason. He's seen his fellow trade partner, Mookie Betts, lead off for the Dodgers throughout a season in which LA had MLB's best record and reached the World Series for the third time in four years. Now Price will root for a team he's never pitched for on the biggest stage against the team that brought him into professional baseball.
“(The Rays) helped groove and mold me into the pitcher and person I am today," Price told USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "I’ll forever be grateful for my time in Tampa, to be part of what they started until the time I left... Believe me, I'll be watching."
MORE: Why did the Red Sox trade Mookie Betts to the Dodgers?
David Price contract breakdown
- Years remaining (after 2020): 2
- Salary remaining: $64 million
- Average annual value in 2021-22: $32 million (tied for eighth-most in baseball)
- 2020 pandemic & opt-out adjusted salary: $5,925,926
Price's contract was the biggest reason for his trade from Boston to L.A. The Dodgers and Red Sox agreed to split Price's salary from 2020-2022, according to reports at the time of the trade. That means the Dodgers will owe Price $16 million in both 2021 and 2022, while the Red Sox will pay him that same amount to not pitch for them.
Why did the Red Sox trade David Price to the Dodgers?
The Red Sox were staring the luxury tax straight in the face, and instead of paying an extra eight-figure total and choosing to contend in 2020, they chose to trade away Price with Mookie Betts. Price was the salary dump, and the way to make it happen was to add Betts.
Boston was likely looking at the beginning of a Price decline and decided that paying him another $96 million that he was still due at the time of the trade wasn't the smartest economic decision. Looking at the 24-36 Red Sox in 2020, the Price savings viewed in a vacuum seem like a smart call (that's before considering they had to give up Betts to move him).
The Dodgers and their huge pockets likely saw Price as a potentially still valuable piece. He had a career-worst 4.28 ERA in 2019, but he also had a career-best 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings. The stuff that once upon a time made Price one of baseball's best pitchers still showed up on his best days. His ERA was always under 4.00 in every season from 2010 to 2018, and smart usage by the Dodgers could've likely returned him to that level.
Price also presented potential as a mentor to the Dodgers' stable of young pitchers, including Walker Buehler and Julio Urias. And at least from a narrative and intimidation factor, Price and Clayton Kershaw would join forces as the two best left-handers of this generation.
MORE: Dodgers vs. Rays payroll breakdown
Why did David Price opt out of the 2020 MLB season?
Price announced on Saturday, July 4, that he'd be opting out of the pandemic-shortened Major League Baseball season. That came 19 days before the Dodgers eventually opened their season on July 23.
The full announcement from Price read as follows:
“After considerable thought and discussion with my family and the Dodgers, I have decided it is in the best interest of my health and my family’s health for me to not play this season. I will miss my teammates and will be cheering for them throughout the season and on to a World Series victory. I’m sorry I won’t be playing for you this year, but look forward to representing you next year.”
Price has two young children. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told the Los Angeles Times that he and Price had conversations about Price's playing status since mid-March.
Financial security certainly played a role in which MLB players opted out of the season. Price has already earned more than $200 million in his career, and he joined an opt-out list that included other veterans Buster Posey, Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake.
Revisiting David Price's time with the Rays and the 2008 World Series
The Rays (at that point still the Devil Rays) picked Price with the first overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt. Tampa Bay was in the midst of its 10th season of existence and had never won more than 70 games in a year. The Rays had already picked first overall twice before, selecting Josh Hamilton in 1999 and Delmon Young in 2003. High draft picks hadn't changed their fortunes, though, until Price.
Tampa Bay had a magical 2008 season under Joe Maddon and behind the third overall pick from 2006, Evan Longoria. The Rays rattled off 97 wins in the regular season and made it all the way to the World Series, where they lost to the Phillies. Price blasted through the minors and made it to the majors late in the year in a split starter/reliever role
The Devil Rays used Price five times out of the bullpen during their postseason run. That included an extra-innings win for Price against Boston in the ALCS, along with the save in Game 7 of the ALCS that sent Tampa Bay to the World Series. Price appeared twice in the World Series, allowing two runs (one earned) in Game 2 and pitching a clean inning in Game 5 when the Phillies clinched the series.
Price became a full-time starter the next season and went on to pitch six more seasons with Tampa Bay. He finished second in Cy Young voting in 2010, when he went 19-6 with a 2.72 ERA. Two years later, Price won the American League Cy Young, going 20-5 with a league-best 2.56 ERA and 205 strikeouts in 211 innings.
A year and a half remained on Price's contract at the 2014 trade deadline, and Tampa Bay chose to move on from him at that time, trading him to Detroit. Current Rays starting shortstop Willy Adames was the high-ranking prospect who came back to Tampa Bay in that deal.
Price was traded again in 2015, to the Blue Jays, before signing with the Red Sox in free agency. Boston traded him in the 2020 offseason to the Dodgers.
Six years after departing Tampa Bay, Price is still the franchise leader in ERA, WHIP, and pitching WAR.