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Breaking non-news: David Price expects to be traded

Or maybe the news is that Price is reasonably intelligent and aware and might even understand economics.

By Ian Malinowski
Yes David, two years of team control.
Yes David, two years of team control.
Jim Rogash

David Price expects to be traded this offseason, according to an article by Marc Topkin apparently running today on the front page of the Tampa Bay Times. Said Price in the article:

If you go with what's been done in the past, I guess you're going to have to think you're going to get traded.

Well, there you have it.

Please understand, this is not a shot at Topkin. He's written an even-keeled and informative article that I'm sure will spur much conversation of what was already going to be the hot topic this offseason in Tampa Bay. He's just doing his job and doing it well, but doesn't the way news media approaches the situation seem a bit absurd? Here's the sequence.

  1. There is a pre-existing situation, there for anyone and everyone to see. David Price is a very good pitcher with a reasonable price tag, who many teams would love to have pitching for them. Per the rules of major league baseball, he is tied to the Tampa Bay Rays for two more seasons. During those two seasons he will be payed increasing wages ($10 million this year, likely $13 million next year, asserts Topkin). If Price is traded before those two years are up, the Rays will receive some players, likely high-quality prospects. If he plays the full two years with the team, he will probably bring them a draft pick when he signs somewhere else for the type of money that befits his quality.
  2. In years past, the Rays (as well as other teams in similar situations) have traded their good starting pitchers rather than let them hit the open market. Matt Garza brought them Chris Archer and others, Scott Kazmir brought them Sean Rodriguez, Alex Torres and others, and James Shields brought them Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, and others.
  3. David Price, like everyone involved with the team is aware of points one and two, and when asked by reporters, is not afraid to admit his basic level of observation and intelligence (Andrew Friedman, the man actually responsible for trading or not trading him, has no comment).
Freak out! Front page news!

I get it. Marc Topkin is a reporter and the Tampa Bay Times is a newspaper. They needed a hook, otherwise it would just be a sports editorial that no one really wants to read. I just think it's a strange world we're living in.

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