Roche: Young Talent Allowed Red Sox To Overspend On Price
BOSTON (CBS) -- I think there's one factor that's getting lost in the discussion when it comes to the Red Sox signing of free agent LHP David Price: Timing.
Yes, the Red Sox' philosophy has changed (perhaps too many times) over the years. I disagreed with the "not signing pitchers in their 30s to long-term deals" approach during the Jon Lester negotiations and I still think it was wrong. A 5-year, $100 million deal with Lester was right there for Sox ownership to jump on and they didn't.
But I do believe circumstances have changed for the Sox, even in the short period of time from the spring of 2014 to today. The team's ownership and front office have watched the young players blossom into very good big league players, with Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Jr, Blake Swihart, Christian Vazquez (if health permits) and Eduardo Rodriguez all being counted on as future franchise players. And with that comes cost control, as all of them will be relatively cheap for the next 4-6 years.
That means Boston ownership felt that they could go out and spend big-time bucks on a legitimate ace, something they sorely lacked since trading Lester. Their payroll won't explode towards Dodgers territory because their farm system has produced -- and continues to produce -- at the lower levels.
This is important to note going forward. David Ortiz and his $16 million salary will be off the books after this season and you have to believe that Dave Dombrowski may also try to unload as much of Hanley Ramirez's contract (and maybe Pablo Sandoval) as he can. That would further reduce their long-term commitments.
So, in my opinion, the Sox didn't change their "draft and develop" philosophy. They used it to help them land a desperately needed ace, and it played out exactly how they wanted it to.
One other thing: Why worry about the back-end years of Price's deal? There's no reason to believe that Price won't be dominant over the first three years of the deal based on his previous innings workload over his career, in addition to his (he won't be 31 until August).
If the Sox get to the postseason again, it's a pretty good investment.
Yes, there's a lot of work left to be done. But, at least the Red Sox appear to be heading back in the right direction with quality at the top of their rotation once again.
