Do you want to win, or do you not want to win?
That question trumps Price tags, sticker shock and sometimes even common sense when Jack Frost starts nipping at your nose and memories of a crumbled summer are crackling in the fireplace.
Maybe there comes a day when the Boston Red Sox will regret tossing a record-shattering $217 million over seven years to David Price, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported Tuesday, but you cannot see that day from here. And you cannot blame the Red Sox for shifting directions after last summer's debacle that started with the starting rotation.
That the Sox are backing up the Brink's truck with a deal surpassing Clayton Kershaw's seven-year, $215 million contract for the 30-year-old, eight-year MLB veteran is no surprise. The minute Boston hired Dave Dombrowski to run its baseball operations last August, you could see this coming. Given the familiarity between Dombrowski and Price in Detroit, many people viewed their reunion in Boston as predictable as Sam hitting on Diane every week on Cheers.
And if not Price, who gets an opt-out clause after three years, per Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, then it was going to be Zack Greinke. Or Johnny Cueto. Acquiring stars—including filthy, top-of-the-rotation starters—is how Dombrowski rolls. Always has.
You win with pitching. The Red Sox are coming off of two consecutive last-place finishes in the AL East, a combined 40 games out of first place, because they've produced the Pee-wee Herman of AL East rotations.
Two years ago, recognizing they had fallen hopelessly behind in the division, they gutted their rotation and traded Jon Lester, John Lackey and Jake Peavy at midseason.
Last year, their rebuilt rotation ranked 13th in the AL with a 4.39 ERA and tied for 10th in the AL with a 1.33 WHIP. Only the Detroit Tigers (500) and the Chicago White Sox (463) surrendered more earned runs than did the Red Sox starters (462).
Clay Buchholz as Opening Day starter was not the answer last year (even though Buchholz threw seven shutout innings that day against Philadelphia, but, really, who didn't beat the Phillies last season?). And a rotation stocked with Nos. 3 and 4 starters such as Wade Miley and Rick Porcello quickly proved to be a flawed idea.
So what if they all gave you innings if bat racks full of runs accompanied them?
Where all of that started last year was in San Diego in December, at the winter meetings, when Lester spurned the Red Sox to sign with the Chicago Cubs. In halfheartedly attempting to sign Lester to a contract extension before dealing him to the Oakland Athletics earlier in the '14 season, the Sox underestimated their underwhelming offer. With no small bit of arrogance, they figured they could lure Lester back as a free agent regardless.
They couldn't.
Things quickly went south from there, leading to the departure of former president Larry Lucchino, the hiring of Dombrowski and the resignation of general manager Ben Cherington, a good baseball man who couldn't fill Theo Epstein's Whiz Kid front office chair despite drawing up plans for Boston's 2013 World Series win.
Things deteriorated in Fenway Park more quickly than you could say "Mike Napoli."
Dramatic falls call for dramatic moves, especially in a hardball town with hard-edged fans.
You win with pitching. You can't fake it with weak soup (or, in Boston, clam chowder) atop the rotation. When Boston won it all in 2004, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez led the rotation. When it won in '07, Josh Beckett was at his peak, and Daisuke Matsuzaka was dealing. When it won in '13, Lester was establishing his bona fides, and Lackey was steady.
You saw how the New York Mets rolled to the World Series this fall with dominant starters. The Kansas City Royals got there with the help of ace Johnny Cueto. And the Toronto Blue Jays earned their first playoff appearance in 22 years only after acquiring Price at midseason. He went 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 11 starts for them.
Yes, he's 30, and the back end of this deal will be an issue. No question. But again, do you want to win, or do you not want to win? Right now, this is how the game is played. Pitching is expensive. Word of Price's deal had barely leaked before Greinke's camp sent some hard truths of its own. If Price was guaranteed $30 million each season from 2016 through 2018, then Greinke is seeking more, per ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick:
Price has had great success pureeing AL East clubs in the past, in Tampa Bay from 2008-14 and in Toronto last summer. He won a Cy Young in 2012 and finished second in the AL Cy Young balloting in 2010 and 2015.
There is nothing not to like about Price except, admittedly, his 2-7 record and 5.12 ERA in 14 postseason games (eight starts).
Last I checked, however, this would have been a moot point with the Red Sox. That's because the past two seasons, they haven't thrown a postseason pitch.
You can't get there without elite starters from April through September. And with Dombrowski snagging Price on the heels of his acquisition of All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel, the Red Sox have sent a strong message: They're aiming to be back. And soon.
Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.
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