Sunday: Manager Alex Cora told reporters, including Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter), that Price will indeed undergo surgery to have the cyst removed next week. The procedure is not expected to be extensive, adds Cotillo (on Twitter). Price is on track to have a normal spring training in 2020.
Wednesday, 4:04pm: Price has officially been shut down for the season, Cora revealed in a radio appearance on WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni and Fauria today (Twitter link).
Wednesday, 1:03am: It appears injured Red Sox left-hander David Price’s season will come to an early end. The Red Sox are “most likely” to shut him down for the rest of 2019, manager Alex Cora told Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and other reporters.
This is anything but a shocking development, as Price’s left wrist continues to trouble him and the Red Sox have nothing of significance to play for at this point. At 9 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot with the regular season nearing a conclusion, the reigning World Series winners won’t have a chance to defend their crown in the playoffs this year.
The fact that Boston hasn’t had Price at full strength is among the reasons this will go in the books as a disappointing season for the club. Price, who has made only two starts since the beginning of August, will wind up with 107 1/3 innings of 4.28 ERA/3.63 FIP pitching on the year. He missed a couple weeks in May with a case of elbow tendinitis, and then hit the IL again last month because of a cyst in his wrist. While Price underwent a cortisone shot then in hopes of alleviating the issue, the 34-year-old still hasn’t found relief.
Price may have to undergo surgery before next season, which will be the fifth of the seven-year, $217MM contract the Red Sox gave him going into 2016. There’s still $96MM remaining on the deal, a pact Price signed when he was amid a long run as an elite workhorse. Although he’s a six-time 200-inning hurler (including in his first year with the Red Sox), Price has only averaged 119 frames per season dating back to 2017.
pasha2k
Maybe he can get in some video games during this lay off!
Polish Hammer
Or more time to hang out with Eck…
Strike Four
Career FIP: 3.35
2019 FIP: 3.63
If Boston’s defense wasn’t trash this season you cowards would be arguing that Price is a HOFer. But, Boston fans are the only ones that come close to Yankees fans in terms of being massive losers despite their team winning all the time.
Boston2AZ
I would agree, with the exception that the Yankees don’t “win all the time”. That was true in the 20th Century – not so much in the 21st, where they’ve one exactly once.
Yankeepride88
One once huh? It’s hilarious watching people label Yankees fans as losers or idiots. It’s a form of entertainment, are you really so insecure you need to bring down fans of other teams?
Boston2AZ
I didn’t label Yankee fans “losers” OR “idiots” OR “bringing them down” for supporting their team. I was just correcting Strike Four when he said that the Yankees win all the time. They don’t anymore and haven’t in a while. BTW, as someone who grew up listening to Yankee fans trash and belittle Red Sox fans and the fans of every other team in the league, your comment is really laughable. But, like I said, that was then – this is now. You’re just like every other team. Hope you can adjust to the new reality!
deweybelongsinthehall
Every team has over the top fans that act like idiots. Unbalanced leagues have resulted in three teams that have had great seasons. No one however will remember five years from now except for the one that wins. That said: don’t discount ANY playoff team in the year of the super ball.
TrillionaireTeamOperator
Baseball is a strange sport. It’s such a huge, complicated machine of multiple people functioning at their peaks or at least more consistently than any other team overall, in order to win the World Series.
for some clubs, becoming a team that makes it to the post season is the victory.
I don’t know what to think when one player makes $30+ Million a season and isn’t greatly affecting the overall outcome for their team. I understand the point of some clubs doing this is to overpay to attract future FA’s in order to build a competitive club a few years down the road.
But this isn’t the Padres with Hosmer and Machado or the Nationals with Strasburg, Scherzer and now Corbin; needing to sweeten the pot to get that high profile of talent to commit. I think the Yankees are taking the right approach where they pay guys, but they get relative discounts because they’re the Yankees.
In the end I don’t mind, as a Yankee fan, if the Red Sox get hog tied by some bad contracts (unless, like with Ellsbury, they can ride out the deal off insurance and plug in an All-Star replacement at pre-Arbitration prices next season)
SecsSeksSecks
Yeah. MLB is a different beast compared to other major American sports leagues. It’s kinda like the NFL is one nation where all teams spend a minimum of x or a maximum of x + a couple mill and then split the profits league wide so that there is more parity and every team makes a profit. MLB is more like the United States in the sense that it is 30 teams (states) all trying to make a profit on their own regardless of the rest of the league. It seems like a lot of MLB team owners realize that all they care about is money and if their payroll is low enough they can make a profit even if they lose. At that point making the playoffs is a bonus because they get more home games to put fans in the seats. They make sure they stay out of the red and in the black every single year then lie to fans about the direction of the franchise to keep the attendance high. I do find it funny that Boston used to complain about the Yanks spending and supported a salary cap. Now Boston outspends everyone in the league. A lot of teams are willing to blow their franchise up for a decade in order to win one championship. Other teams just want to be slightly relevant for as long as possible so they don’t go through extended periods of fan apathy. Boston has been doing the former and have done it very successfully to this point. It looks like they may be reaching the point that it starts biting them in the butt though. When your best player is about to make $30 mill in arbitration just so you can watch him go in free agency a year later and you have around $300 mill in future dollars already spent on underperforming injury prone pitchers the future stops looking so bright. They do have that Boston payroll to get around it though but then again, so do your Yanks. I personally am a much bigger fan of teams that develop a core of young players that spend their first MLB year on the team. It’s always good to add free agents to take a core of talent over the top but IMO it doesn’t say a lot about a franchise if they do nothing but use their large piggy bank just to hire a bunch of mercenaries to get the job done for players the team couldn’t develop on their own. It’s much more fun when the players develop together and you can actually see them having fun with each other everyday because there is a true brotherhood on the team and for the city that either drafted them or acquired them when they were nobody. Who cares if a guy that has no ties to your city or organization other than the number of zeros on his paycheck wears your teams jersey? I mean… At that point fans are just rooting for laundry, right?
TrillionaireTeamOperator
I’m struggling with this idea now; wanting to see the core of my team stay together for a few if not many seasons so that I feel like I’m rooting for a group and an era, not just the jersey. Boston moreso than any other team has dumped and re-loaded their roster between championships, which I’m sure is largely due to the rotating GM situation.
The Yankees have a sincere long term core in what they have right now. Even older guys like LeMahieu could stick around a solid 4 to 5 more seasons. I wonder if and when and how they’ll extend guys like Judge, Sanchez and so on, because I can see someone like them wanting to try and get to $30M AAV on a 5+ season contract. I can see that contract also looking like an albatross very quickly. I also don’t think they can just get everybody to sign $10M AAV contracts like they did with Severino and Hicks.
I’d love to see the Yankees become like the Dodgers, where they hand out short-term high AAV deals to some guys, get other guys on league average longer term extensions.
They aren’t the same club that signed Ellsbury or even Tanaka. They also aren’t trying to get as cheap as possible either, because that would take them out of competition after a few seasons and nobody wants the Yankees to turn into the Athletics. Obviously the A’s do what they do better than anybody overall, but the Yankees just have too much money to justify lowballing everybody for much longer.
Do they go all in for Cole? I dunno. I get why they passed on Corbin and gave him a conservative offer and they’re trying to tow that line with signings like that of Happ or Britton with a healthy AAV but not breaking the bank, but they still kind of need pitching and I just don’t see Torres, Sanchez and Judge accepting exceptionally team friendly contracts like that of Hicks or even that 8 year/$100M Acuna contract in Atlanta, which does pay a very healthy $17M AAV in the middle with a hefty buyout.
I’m just curious how they balance staying competitive with not being on a bloated budget and maintaining the same core of guys. It’s been a long time since they’ve really been in this position. I’d say not since 1996 or so and that window was around until about 2005, even with the 2003 and 2004 crushing losses and losing to the Dbacks in 2001…their 2009 WS notwithstanding, ahem.
Mystery Team
They’ll hopefully trade Judge before they have to let him walk or pay him. The guy’s so big injuries are going to haunt him his whole career. He will constantly have issues with his legs and with core muscle injuries. I say trade him for pitching while he still has some controllable years making him attractive to other teams. The Yankees can easily replace what Judge provides when healthy. Pitching is much more important than a player that spends more than 30% of every season on the IL.
ctyank7
Agreed on moving Judge before the price gets too high. He is older and brittle. Next year, he goes to Arbitration for the first time at 28. And he is, due to age and other factors, likely never to match his rookie season 2017 numbers again.
The player you try to lock up ASAP before his price tag gets outrageous is Gleyber. At 22, he is having a prolific season and can fairly expected to be even better next year. 8 years and 200 mm is not out of the question. Then flip Judge and Sanchez for pitching and sign Romine for three years and you have a stronger core for the future
ffrhb14Sox
You may just not watch Boston or kbow anything about their roster but they signed and developed that core you are talking about, a better one than NY and did it about 3 years earlier which is why they are already paying them and NY isnt. See Vazquez, Bogaerts, Devers, Benintendi, Bradley, Betts, Workman, Barnes, etc. If you want to count trades for prospects like the Yankees for Torres then add on ERod. Boston traded some other good prospects that were blocked to finish out a championship team around their guys. Nothing wrong with that.
Yankeepride88
The problem with football is you can have one player (QB) make any team a super bowl contender. In baseball, it’s nearly impossible to have one player carry an entire team. That’s why Barry Bonds had just one championship with the Giants.
n13gmlb
You mean a World Series appearance. 2002, because they lost that world series against the Angels.
baumann
Exactly. The homegrown offensive core is incredible, and their patience with Edu Rodriguez is commendable. The Red Sox have money, so they filled in the rest of the holes with big-contract FAs, as some people above have said is the “right” way to do it. Plenty of homegrown talent for Boston fans to connect with long term. The problem is that they [mostly] bet on the wrong guys with those FA dollars. Seems like their ability to develop players is fine. They just should’ve never let Dombrowski in the door.
butch779988
Like Stanton eh?
Melchez
TTO – “but they get relative discounts because they’re the Yankees.”
Who did the Yankees get at a discount? DJ? Happ? Garner? CC? Chapman? ARod?
jjd002
Ya that might be the first time I’ve ever heard someone say that about the Yankees.
TrillionaireTeamOperator
They got a discount on Gardner when he signed his first extension. I definitely read articles projecting Gardner could get at least 4 years/$52M on the open market thanks to his defensive skills. Had Hicks stayed healthy and produced near the levels of last season, I read a few articles predicting a 4-5 year deal at a $14-18M AAV, which is the total value the Yankees got him at over many more seasons than that, ensuring cost efficiency and ever increasing value over the life of the contract due to the diminishing salary.
I realize LeMahieu was predicted to get a 2 year/$18M deal. However, 2 years/$24M doesn’t seem like that big of a difference and it is absolutely an average value contract for a high profile FA, especially if you give both sides the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, when you consider the intricacies of these contracts state to state, team to team and the implications of their values, what would have been 2 years/$18M in Georgia or Colorado or Texas is 2 years/$24M in New York City/State to account for the taxes.
They haven’t actually given out a massive extension or FA deal in a few years. I realize they traded for Stanton, the logic of which I never really understood and still don’t and never really wanted him as a Yankee so I’ll give you all Stanton, even if the Yankees didn’t sign that extension with him originally and Miami gave them $30M to offset the cost.
And Happ getting $17M as a starting pitcher isn’t strange. CC is our highest paid pitcher ever. Chapman is making effectively league appropriate money for being an All-Star caliber closer.
Who’s the last person they directly signed to an overpay? They forced their last big contracts into retirement (A-Rod, Teixeira and Ellsbury) and anybody they’ve signed since, they’ve signed on short term, affordable deals. Everybody is valuing middle relief pitching more than ever, so the Britton and Ottavino signings were also short term deals at market value.
So name a truly recent, relevant contract they’ve taken on or created themselves that is bloated in cost, which the primary knock against the Yankees and the one being used now by you guys.
Also do you expect them to not pay a guy a market rate salary? Also they’re an immensely profitable club. When Khris Davis seemed to become locked in at .248 BA 40 HR’s the A’s ponied up to the tune of more than $16M per season and that’s the A’s! What do you expect the Yankees to offer guys? Or would you like to see them not sign any FA, try to sign guys to like 7 years/$52.5M deals a year before arbitration at every possible turn and then lose out or have to trade studs because they won’t pay them?
The Yankees have never been generous through arbitration but they also haven’t had this level of home grown talent and youth within their core in 25 years.
I get that they’ve over bid and out bid many other teams for FA’s in the past, but they haven’t done that the past few off seasons, so, where is your current evidence?
Melchez
You said discount. Paying more than other teams is not a discount. Look at every example you gave and the yankees paid more than anyone else. That’s not a discount.
Randy Red Sox
Paxton?
fits65
I don’t mind that they paid the PRICE for such a bad contract situation. He came to Boston with lots of mileage from high stress innings and baggage from his personality.
Then again they way overpaid in damaged goods when they bought on SALE. Was anyone paying attention to his fragile arm? He’s a lanky guy with great success, however it remains to be seen whether he can come back as an elite arm.
Their larger problem though is that the owner does not stand up and be accountable. John Henry has quickly become the impetuous, emotional recluse owner with his rash of continuous firings in the front office.
Sox fans can point to the Boss when he was in control of the Yankees, however George never avoided the press to explain himself.
Alex Cora will certainly leave after his contract is up. Nobody likes their boss putting them into such an awkward situation. That’s not what he signed up for when he signed on in Boston. He’s worked in professional organizations and must be appalled. It’s not the first time hat they put him in such a place.
Melchez
Cora didn’t know what he was getting into after seeing how Ferrell and Francona were treated? Hmmm
oldleftylong
In DD we trust.
deweybelongsinthehall
It was also a dream come true for Cora who was a reserve on the 2004 team. This was his first shot as a manager and many don’t get a second. He took over a ready team and everything went right. He gets to choose his next job or go into a booth if there are none he likes when his tenure with Boston ends.
Senioreditor
The Dodgers are the new model. Besides Kershaw, home grown, no one get a nine-figure contract. Most of their team is either young and cheap or pitchers on high AAV short term contracts. It’s too risky to commit 200+ million to any pitcher and those days are probably gone.
Strike Four
Yeah, a SP with a FIP of 3.63 isn’t “bad” by any means, you are as dumb as rocks though.
Eightball611
Funny how he started this season as the best starter however 2018 showed he was better. Which price will be next seaso
cts_2
I really hope you aren’t saying he’s better than Chris Sale…
Strike Four
No it didnt, he had a career high in K/9 this year, he was excellent, he just had a terrible defense behind him.
twinsfan368
So glad the Red Sox are out cuz that lineup is dangerous as heck
Melchez
Yankees will face some tough competition if they face the Indians in the first round. They are 3 and 4 against the lowly Central division Indians. Those 3 wins, were wins by 1 run each time. The 4 losses have been by 3, 4, 14, and 4 runs.
They are 2 and 4 against the A’s. Again, the two wins against the A’s were 1 run walk offs. the losses by 2, 2, 4, and 6 runs.
Yankees best bet in the playoffs is if they get to face the Red Sox and Orioles.
fits65
Hey Melch-check the injury report before offering your opinions. The Indians are far less dangerous than they were 3 days ago. Let’s call it yesterday’s news.
Baseballallday
Performance in the the regular season doesn’t necessarily predict how the playoffs will go. In the regular season the Yanks has the benefit of a large division lead which allowed them to leave guys in to see how they work through struggles or give guys days off. Who knows how the series turns out when they go all in.
Also the Red Sox last year had a losing record against every AL playoff team last year including the As with the exception of the Yanks where they were 1 game above .500.
Melchez
Relax Yankee lovers… just posting facts.
Baseballallday
As am I… check Boston’s record last year against the Astros, Indians, or As. I have no idea how October is going to play out but I know a few games against a team in the regular season isn’t exactly predictive
maxorange33
Part of the reason DUMBrowski was fired. Oh and most of his other big money deals, hello Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.
Melchez
You realize dombrowski didnt make those signings right? DD became Boston’s gm in August 2015. They signed in 2014.
B-Strong
It’s the cool thing to do to blame Dombrowski for everything. That Carl Crawford signing was terrible on his part, and don’t even get me started on him selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees.
southbeachbully
@B-Strong Never get in the way of a good rant….even if they’re wrong.
maxorange33
Oops, my bad.
oldleftylong
In DD we trust.
fits65
Hey Max-Trader Dave didn’t sign Pablo and Hanley; his predecessor did. Though they were engineered by John Henry in the background.
However you can give credit to Trader Dave for robbing the farm system. The good young players that are in Boston now we’re from the previous regime as well. So Dave emptied the cupboards with his trades and the team is left with heavy salary burden from his contracts and very little young affordable talent to replenish.
xSpecBx
Isn’t that what he was brought in to do though? When you bring in a guy like Dombrowski, you know what you are getting. His nickname to everyone is trader Dave. He was brought in to make the moves that would get them a championship. He did that. I’m a Yankees fan, but you can’t be mad when you bring in a guy to do a job and he does exactly that. Everyone knew he would dump the farm for short term gain. Keep in mind too, ownership signed off on every one of those high priced moves, so they knew what they were getting themselves into along with anyone else with half a brain who was watching. A new GM is needed now given how the roster is constructed.
oldleftylong
He won a WS … last year!!
Randy Red Sox
Even a blind man could see that the Kung POO Panda and Hanley signings were doomed to failure.
whyhayzee
Erod cost Miller, a pretty good deal. Porcello cost Cespedes, a pretty good deal. Sale cost them Moncada and Kopech, who has done nothing yet. Kimbrel cost light hitting position players. Their lineup has not been hamstrung by their trades. They haven’t traded a bunch of pitching. I don’t see what is bad with their trades. Other guys were free agents: Price, JD, Moreland. Their lineup is mostly home grown and their bullpen, such as it is, is also fairly home grown. They have a lot of expensive players. If they do perform, it’s ok. If they don’t perform, it’s everyone else’s fault.
oldleftylong
In DD we trust.
GMB 883
I would be very careful to write the Sox off for the next few seasons. They have a lot of talent and with the right GM, and a couple smart decisions they can be a really good team. Especially with the play of Devers, Bogarts and Vasquez. I read recently that their farm system is no where near as bad as some seem to think. They have 6 to 8 players who had impressive seasons on the farm that were significant improvement. Also if you look at who DD traded for Kimbrel, Sale, Thornberg, Smith etc. they are not people performing at what was expected. Maybe with more time but right now when you look at their WS incredible season last year and a manager like Cora, no one should predict an organization going backwards. Say what you want but Henry and Warner have 4 WS championships since they bought the team. They can’t be idiots to pull that off after all those years. They are smart and there is a lot of pressure to win in Boston/NE with the Patriots, Bruins and Celtics. Only time will tell but history is on their side for sure.
Marner#16
Stop playing Fort Night!
GMB 883
whyhayzee – I agree with you. I would make those trades all over again. Worked out very well if you ask me. Also it’s just a matter of time what the Yankees will have to pay big contracts to some of their young stars such as the Sox are doing now or they leave for the big $ elsewhere. They only stay young and cheap for so long. Cashman deserves more credit for some of the great trades he made for young talent. Sox are very homegrown except for some pieces that you alluded to. This stuff is not easy or everyone would be doing it. Tough decisions. I think DD’s problem was his click with a few and not the entire baseball ops team. There was a divide. They will figure it out. It’s a pretty nice job to have if you don’t mind the pressure.
GMB 883
If you were referring to me Mariner#16, I don’t play video games. Maybe you meant David Price. I would rather be outside vs indoors playing games. Lol – to each his own. The reality is just that. I didn’t make up my comments. Check the facts. Beautiful day. Gotta go.
GaryWarriorsRedSoxx
If he was referring to you, you would find his comment offset and under yours like mine right here. A fresh comment on the post has no indentation.
Marner#16
GMB 883,
I was making a general statement about Price which has been documented before in numerous articles about him. Good for you.
kelticknotz
Red Sox fans must spend a fortune on tape for their ankles, they are on the wagon and off the wagon those ankles take a beating. When Cherrington was winning them the W/S he was great, then he wasn’t. When Dombrowski was winning them the W/S he was great. They wanted Farrell so they traded Toronto to get him back and as soon as he was lost he was gone. Now Cora is there and if Boston is slow out of the gate in 2020 he’ll be gone.
Boston chased after Price he didn’t chase after them, they threw money and years of contract at him. Sale’s came with history but Boston chased after him. So its the people who signed those cheques that are to blame not the players. Look at Price and Sale record those two are getting older and they have pitched a lot of ball at a high level for a lot of years. Arms get tired arms get sore and every player comes to the end of his career.
Boston Red Sox’s owners knew what they were getting in each and every case because if they didn’t they have no business owning the team.
lhollar24gto
wow
Bruin1012
DD was brought in for a specific reason and that was to do what he does and that is put teams in a position to win a championship with a club capable of winning. He accomplished that goal.
DD was let go because the Red Sox owners know that the Sox are facing some sort of soft reset and rebuilding of the farm. They also know that DD isn’t the guy for that job and he was let go. You can argue the way that they did it was poorly done I certainly believe it was but I understand why they did it just thought it should of been done after the season.
The new GM will be tasked at remaining competitive with a solid young core while rebuilding the farm and going under the lux tax and resetting. I believe the new GM will be tasked with trading Mookie and getting under the lux tax. Whomever is tasked with that job will have there work cut out for them and I wish them well.
DD really appreciate the championship and the three Al East Crowns in a row and admire him going for it and most importantly getting the championship. I wouldn’t expect Boston to be down to long with ownerships resources it should be a short reset and they will be back.
I will continue to watch and enjoy the Sox through this reset and look forward to the next championship which I’m convinced this ownership will provide again.
oldleftylong
DD can do resets too. Bosox will regret letting him go.
rodster
Don’t hold your breath.
GMB 883
DD has had a great career not so sure he will work that much longer. Maybe as a consultant or advisor to another org.
Kelticknotz – I hear what your saying but like NY being a President of Baseball Ops, GM or Field Manager in Boston comes with great pressure. It’s not for a lot of people and most cannot successfully do it for a long period of time. The Sox owners are making moves as they see fit based on the status of the team and skill set and availability of the leader they want at that particular time. Since 2003 they have 4 WS championships. I don’t know about you but I’m not qualified to question their decision making ability to run their business effectively. Their record speaks for itself. BTW – Farrell was the Mgr for 5 years. Tito Francona for 8. The Boston media is brutal and the fans live and die by their sports teams. Those roles are not for the faint of heart and they do not have a long shelf life. It’s reality. It’s not like St Louis or Arizona. Only Belichick is able to stand the test of time but he is calling the shots while coaching the team and is on a different planet based on his leadership, system, ability, attention to detail and some guy named Brady. Can’t last forever though. Should be interesting for sure.
crazylarry
In surprising News Today another faded star overpay by Dumbroksi has bit the dust. Details at 10:00 ummm who cares they are done and he is gone.
WFG1
What a joke. He belongs in St. Louis, not Boston. Wish he didn’t get greedy and had signed there instead.
Marner#16
You can have him he want he’s banged up. 2017 and 2019….. he’s not as good as he was in the past.
Polish Hammer
Head out of @$$ is minor surgery?
Joeypower
Rays vs Astros AL
Dodgers vs Atl NL
Amen