Chicago Cubs Rumors: What could have been with David Price

 The Chicago Cubs decided to make a run after the 2015 season at David Price. They came up short in their offer and ended up with John Lackey instead. Now, with a World Series under their belt, the “could have, would have” with Price looks to have been a smart move.

Before the 2016 season began, there was money to be spent by the Chicago Cubs. Many of the pieces were already in place for the Cubs, including Jon Lester who had signed his massive deal the year before. After 2015 wasn’t necessarily a sparkling season for Lester, the Cubs set their eye on David Price. After all, he did say that that winning a championship in Chicago would be ‘the coolest.’ 

It was an unprompted mention of the Cubs back in July of 2014 that made people wonder “Would Price want to go to the Cubs”? He may have said it, but the fact is that money talk. The Cubs bid lower than the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. The the talk of wanting to win in Chicago in Cubs’ blue was trumped by the color of green.

It’s hard to look at a player that signs elsewhere and say “that’s what we would have got” from him. Different league. Different players. The designated hitter. You name it; it’s a different monster. But just how different would things have been if Price’s recurring forearm issue were the Cubs–and not the Red Sox problem?

Cubs finish third for Price

The Cubs were coming off a big offseason in which they signed Lester to a six-year, $155 million deal. After losing in the NLCS to the New York Mets, Theo Epstein knew he was going to spend some money in the offseason. The only question was where? Dexter Fowler left, so the Cubs would need another outfielder. But the pitching was something they needed to address before the season started.

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So the Cubs offered Price a seven-year, $161 million deal–maybe thinking he did want to play for the Cubs? It turned out that was third in line for his services behind the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. Price would sign for seven-years at $214 million, and the Cubs would spend their money instead on John Lackey (two-years/$32 million) and Jason Heyward (eight-years/$184 million*).

While Heyward earned the title as a “bust” in his first season, Lackey finished 11-8 with a 3.35 ERA, part of that fantastic rotation the Cubs had in 2016. The Cubs rode that all the way to the World Series to play the Cleveland Indians. Just a small note that might have mattered? Price was scorched for five runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings pitched against the Indians in the ALDS in taking a loss in his only game pitched in the series.

The cost keeps going up

Price did finish 2016 with a 17-9 record and a 3.99 ERA. He led the AL in starts, innings pitched and hits allowed. He also allowed the most home runs in his career with 30. Similar to the deal that Heyward signed with the Cubs, Price can opt out of his deal after the 2018 season. He’ll make $30 million in each of his first three years in Boston; then it goes up slightly to $31 million in 2019.

This is where the once “team friendly” contract could get less friendly. Price has hit the DL again with recurring forearm trouble. He missed the beginning of this season with the same issue, not making his first start until May 29. The hope is that he won’t need to miss much time, but only the doctors that have seen the MRI can know that.

If the inflammation in his forearm turns out to be something worse like a torn ulnar-collateral ligament (speculation, folks. Nothing more), he would miss the rest of this season and very likely all of next year. From there, would he decide to opt out after not playing for a year and a half? Not likely. Meaning the Red Sox would be on the hook for the rest of the $127 million. That hurts.