The Los Angeles Dodgers have a very interesting trade chip in pitcher David Price, and now is the perfect time to maximize the return for the 36-year-old southpaw.
If the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to trade David Price, now is the right time to make a deal happen.
Price is in the final year of a seven-year, $217 million contract and is making $32 million this season (with the Dodgers paying $16 million of that and the Boston Red Sox making up the difference as part of the deal that sent both Price and Mookie Betts to Chavez Ravine before the 2020 season). In his two years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Price has pitched in 50 games, totaling a 3.90 ERA/4.08 FIP/1.418 WHIP over the course of 85.1 innings (including 11 starts).
So far this season, Price is putting up his best numbers with the Dodgers, including a 3.09 ERA and 1.37 WHIP over the course of his last 15 games. With Price faring at some of his best during his time in Dodger blue and Clayton Kershaw and Andrew Heaney out on rehab assignments before likely rejoining the team in the near future, it’s the perfect time for the Dodgers to see if they can find a trade partner.
Whichever team were to pick up Price and his 23 games of postseason experience with three different teams would likely also need to pick up a portion of his salary as well. Could a reunion with the Detroit Tigers, where Price pitched in 2014 and 2015 and is a franchise that needs healthy arms after being hit hard by injuries this season, be a possibility? As Peter Gammons of The Athletic mentioned in a tweet, the Dodgers could be looking to trade with a team that would need Price as a starter.
If the Dodgers trade Price, it likely won’t be the most newsworthy deal the team makes this season. However, it can be one that could potentially provide a decent return for a player who never seemed to make his expected mark in Los Angeles.