Jays should throw all the money they can at Price
David Price didn’t win the Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, which is fine.
Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros, who did, had an equally great year. He’s a deserving winner, even if you dock points for the ridiculous beaver pelt attached to his chin.
But his win also saves the Blue Jays the potential ignominy of having the reigning Cy Young winner walk in free agency.
Before we go any further, let us note that the Jays might have a close to zero chance of signing Price even if they offer him the biggest, longest contract in the franchise’s history, because other destinations — the Cubs, Dodgers — would be more attractive and other suitors — the Yankees, Red Sox — are unlikely to be outbid.
So the odds are slim. But let’s just say that Price, he of the bathrobes and scooters and instant bond with Marcus Stroman, really was as smitten with the Blue Jays as he seemed. Say he would give Toronto at least a fair hearing on a possible return.
If so, then the Blue Jays should absolutely be putting all the money they can scrape together after announcing increased 2016 ticket prices and offering it to their would-be ace.
Do not start now with the can’twin-in-the-playoffs business. The fact that he is winless as a starter in the post-season neatly overlooks that he has pitched very well in some of those games.
Had the Jays managed a timely hit or two in his October starts, had Ryan Goins not called off Jose Bautista in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the ALCS, Price would probably have killed the can’t-win narrative by now.
It’s possible that fatigue has played a role, but Price was still throwing at his normal velocity in the playoffs. Greg Maddux went through a 3-9 stretch as a starter in the post-season. It’s playoff baseball; weird stuff happens.
The reason you want Price on your staff is because he’s very good at pitching baseballs. His ERA was best in the American League among starters, as was his Wins Above Replacement, while his strikeout rate was fifth and his home-run rate was third.
Having Price in the Toronto rotation dramatically increases its chances of making the playoffs and then whatever happens there happens. His regular season performance is far more predictable than, say, Marco Estrada’s, and not just because Price has been good for longer. Price posted his 2.45 ERA in 2015 despite a .290 batting average on balls in play; Estrada had a 3.13 ERA and a .216 BABIP. Which pitcher is more likely to regress?
But the main reason Toronto fans should hope management makes a serious run at Price is because of what it would say about what the new front office intends to do with the 2016 roster. Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion have had the “teamfriendly” modifier attached to their contracts for so long it has become routine to think of them as decent bargains. But they are so much more than that. Their contracts are team-best-friendly. They are team-friendly, but the team harbours a deep, secret love.
They are really good contracts, is the point. Encarnacion was fifth in the AL last season in on-base plus slugging percentage, while Bautista was eighth. Miguel Cabrera, who was second in OPS, will make $28 million US for Detroit in 2016. Encarnacion and Bautista will make $24 million — combined. They will make slightly less, as a tandem, than the Angels will pay Albert Pujols ($25 million; 30th in OPS) and the same amount that the Rangers will pay Prince Fielder ($24 million, 15th in OPS).
Having one veteran slugger on a bargain deal is fortunate, but having two is a straight-up gift. The window is almost closed, though, which is why Blue Jays management shouldn’t just be trying to fill out a rotation with serviceable starters, it should be doing all it can to add another front-line arm, whether that’s Price or someone like him.
Depending on whose leaks you choose to believe, new president Mark Shapiro has been told the team’s payroll will be less, more or around the same as last year’s $138 million.
And at the risk of pointing out for the eleventy-ninth time that team owner Rogers could easily bump up the amount it spends on players, especially given the tangible evidence of the extra revenue that comes in when the team is good, it would be some kind of madness for management to retrench this off-season and start building for a contender some years from now.
Bautista and Encarnacion, the bat flip and the parrot, are in Toronto for one last ride. The team should be loading up around them. They landed an ace less than four months ago. Might as well try to do so again.