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Tonight I drink to David Price, and you should too.

Well here it is. The inevitable and long awaited departure of one of, if not the greatest player in the Rays' relatively short franchise history. It goes without saying that David's value to the team extends far beyond giving everything his left arm has, every fifth day of a 162 game season. David was a representation of the Rays' new-found success, what I call the Rays Renaissance of 2008 and a model leader that this team so desperately needed. And I firmly believe that he was a genuine guy. You always hear athletes across every sport say "I never want to play anywhere else. (Insert city here) is my home" and it borderlines on cliche most of the time. Maybe it's my Rays-Colored-Glasses talking, but I believed David when he said being a Ray was what he wanted.

We've seen players who were a part of the Rays Renaissance walk out the door before in some way or another and they all hurt.

Carl Crawford signing with Boston

B.J. Upton sobbing during what he and everyone knew was his final game in St. Pete

Matt Garza being traded to the Cubs

Big Game James traded to the Royals

Carlos Pena, Grant Balfour (though this season has made me wish he were still gone), you know the rest.

Now David Price is the latest to go. And it sucks. I'm not talking about the return we got or the "it's business, people" message we got from Stu. It's about losing a legacy player. Every franchise only gets so many of those. And in my humble opinion, David is most deserving of that title. So tonight, I'm digging into the depths of my fridge and pulling out the only remaining beer I have left, to give my own personal toast to David Price's Rays career.

Outside of hoping that Smyly/Franklin/Adames pan out (and the booze), I find that the best way to be at peace with today's transaction is knowing that David will never mean as much to the Detroit Tigers and their fan base and he did for Tampa. To them, he's a shiny new toy, and he may very well have some of the best years of his career in their uniform and I truly wish him the best and hope that he goes on to have a healthy and fruitful Hall of Fame career whether it's with Detroit or whoever gives him that max contract (please God not New York/Boston).

But they didn't draft him, they didn't bring him up, he wasn't a prominent face and player for their Renaissance of success. He was all of that for the Rays, and while he may get his championship in Detroit this year or next or whenever, it's impossible for fan bases like that to understand what those kinds of things mean. For them, the norm is having their GM compete for the rights to guys like Miguel Cabrera and then pat them on the back and say what a "good job" they did for being able to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at one player.

David Price has given me years of great memories. Memories of a small-time team defying the odds, toppling the giants, and not backing down from a challenge. For that, I will always be grateful. When his time comes to retire, I don't know that history will remember David Price for his time in St. Pete. Great players that move on to bigger teams for bigger contracts are seldom remembered for their humble beginnings. But I will. I will tell my future children, when I "brainwash them" (as my current long-time girlfriend calls it) into being Rays fans about the great things that David Price did for the franchise and what he represents in their history.

I firmly believe that the Tampa Bay Rays will bring a championship to St. Pete. Maybe (probably) not this year, but I believe it is coming. It just saddens me that David won't be a part of that. Maybe I'm going on blind faith. Maybe it's the booze I've been drinking since I started writing this. Whatever it is, I hope we all appreciate what we had with #14, and continue to believe that winning can be done on a budget. The Rays have always found ways to come back from being down and there's nothing to do but believe they can do it again.

There's nothing we can do about the return we got. It is what it is. David will probably never read this, but I hope he knows how much his time and effort meant to us. Tomorrow, I will root just as hard for Drew Smyly, Nick Franklin and Willy Adames as I did for #14. But tonight I drink to David Price, and you should too.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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