Massarotti: Price's Playoff Duds Shouldn't Dissuade Dombrowski's Pursuit
BOSTON (CBS) -- And so the man the Red Sox are pinning their hopes to, if David Price is indeed that man, now holds a most inglorious distinction: the only pitcher in baseball history to lose his first six career postseason starts.
So let's ask the question again, Red Sox fans: Do you want him? Or don't you.
I'm still in.
Scary? You bet it is, especially given the trauma that high-priced veteran players have inflicted on the Red Sox in recent years. Carl Crawford. Josh Beckett. Hanley Ramirez. Pablo Sandoval. The Red Sox seemingly keep making the same mistakes, over and over again, and now they enter the fall of 2015 in desperate need of a front-end starter, in a market seemingly rich with them, with so many factors pointing to Price as the most obvious target for them.
Except there's this: Price has the resume of, well, a choker.
And he knows it.
"I know it's there," he admitted after taking the loss in yesterday's Game 1 of the American League Division Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers. He added, "I don't have an answer for you, to be honest."
Um, David? You might want to leave that part out if and when you meet with Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski during the offseason, however soon that might be for you.
Look, we all get it. In October, some guys have it and some guys don't. That Price would be one of the greatest failures in baseball history seems particularly mystifying to Red Sox followers, because we all saw him perform as a rookie in the 2008 American League Championship Series, most notably in Game 7. In that series, Price faced nine batters and did not allow a hit in three relief outings, recording the win in Game 2 and the save in Game 7. He was an absolute force. Just ask J.D. Drew.
Since then, as a starter, Price is 0-6 in six postseason starts -- nary a no-decision -- with a 5.23 ERA. This year, in 11 starts for the Blue Jays after being acquired at the trading deadline -- Dombrowski is the one who shipped him from Detroit to Toronto -- Price went 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA. Then he went out in the postseason -- again -- and threw up on himself on the mound.
And then he said stuff like this: "First inning, I was just battling nerves. I'm nervous in my first spring training start, my first bullpen of the year, here. If you're not out there and not nervous for the first couple of pitches, the first couple of innings, then you're not human."
And: "Ducks look calm and collected, but beneath the water they're kicking away."
Great. And so here the Red Sox stand, on the precipice of another big offseason, being asked to invest something approaching $200 million for … a duck.
No two ways about it: this guy tightens up in the big moments. Talk about shrinkage.
Here's the problem: The Red Sox don't have many other choices, at least on the free-agent market. If a good trade presents itself without requiring the Sox to give up Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts and maybe even Blake Swihart, the Sox should jump on it. But short of that, Price is still their best option in a free-agent class that includes the unraveling Johnny Cueto and Zack Greinke, the latter of whom possesses an anxiety disorder and is a very bad match for Boston.
Here's the point: The Sox still need to get to the playoffs again before they can worry about whether Price can handle Game 1. If he can't, they'll just have to deal with that problem when they get there. (Boy, that Jon Lester decision just looks worse and worse, doesn't it?) Maybe Eduardo Rodriguez will turn into a big-game pitcher. Maybe Henry Owens will. There is no way to know. On the mound, there is an enormous difference between stuff and makeup, and you need both to be someone like, well, Curt Schilling. Or John Smoltz. Or Jack Morris.
Price looks like he has the stuff.
The makeup is another matter entirely.
For what it's worth, there are those in baseball who believe Dombrowski will make a big pitch for Price this offseason. The bidding will be considerable, in spite of yesterday, and that should tell you plenty. Like the NFL, baseball remains a game where the regular season matters, only one-third of all teams qualifying for the playoffs. (And two of the 10 teams are eliminated after one game.) Getting to the playoffs is a considerable challenge, and there is significant value in a pitcher who can win during the regular season.
In tonight's National League playoffs, Clayton Kershaw will take the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers with the same choking label Price possesses. A winner of three Cy Young Awards and the possessor of a .671 career winning percentage, Kershaw is 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in his postseason career. He is winless in his last four postseason starts and has a 9.72 ERA in his last three.
Let's say the Dodgers were willing to trade Kershaw and his average annual salary of $30 million to the Red Sox tomorrow.
Are you seriously saying you wouldn't take him?
Tony Massarotti co-hosts the Felger and Massarotti Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub weekdays from 2-6 p.m. Follow him on Twitter @TonyMassarotti. You can read more from Tony by clicking here.
