One way or another, Boston Red Sox after president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was going to make a splash.
Free agent David Price woke up Tuesday morning “believing he would be spending the next seven years pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals,” according to USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale.
Price later reportedly agreed to a seven-year, $217 million contract with the Red Sox after Dombrowski made an “increased offer.”
Dombrowski’s urgency in the 11th hour reportedly was due to his negotiations with Los Angeles Dodgers free agent pitcher Zack Greinke and his representative, Casey Close, according to Nightengale. The Greinke camp wanted an answer on a contract offer from Dombrowski by Tuesday evening to bring to the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. The Red Sox reportedly then pushed for an answer from Price so they wouldn’t lose out on Greinke if the former chose to sign elsewhere.
FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was given the same story.
It certainly sounds like Greinke might have had the Red Sox at the top of his destination wish list, while Dombrowski eyed Price as the No. 1 option on the market. Either way, Dombrowski was determined to get one of them.
Nightengale added that the Cardinals finished in second place in the Price sweepstakes and offered him “the richest contract in franchise history, a seven-year deal worth at least $30 million less than the Red Sox’s offer.” Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs met with Price, according to Nightengale, but never made a formal offer.
For what it’s worth, new Red Sox senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren denied the back-and-forth reports on air with WEEI.
Either way, pending a physical Thursday night, it appears the Red Sox got their man. It wasn’t a splash, either — it was a full-on cannonball.
Thumbnail photo via Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports Images
