Price is right for Red Sox

BOSTON -- Dave Dombrowski got his man. Again.

When the Red Sox first met with Dombrowski in August about the possibility of becoming the team’s president of baseball operations, principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner asked him which free agents he would target to bring the Red Sox back to respectability and the postseason – and out of the American League East cellar, which they have called home three of the past four seasons.

The first name Dombrowski mentioned was that of David Price, the left-hander whom Dombrowski, then with the Tigers, acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Rays in 2014 and traded to the Blue Jays at the 2015 deadline.

Dombrowski acquired Price again, this time for seven years and $217 million. Price gives the Sox the ace they desperately lacked last season.

"When we first sat down with Dave and looked at the five-year plan in August, we had a big number [for salary] for a first slot in the rotation," Red Sox owner John Henry said. "We could have gone one of two ways. We could have gone with trades. As [Werner] said, the first time we sat down, [Price’s] name came up and [Dombrowski] said, ‘This is the kind of pitcher we want to go after.’”

The signing appears to go against the team’s stated philosophy of not giving long-term deals to pitchers over the age of 30. Price turned 30 in August. The Red Sox had also been in talks with free agent right-hander Zack Greinke, who turned 32 in October. The Sox let lefty Jon Lester leave in free agency a year ago, after offering him six years and $135 million. Lester eventually signed with the Cubs for six years and $155 million.

Was it a change in philosophy? A matter of desperate times calling for desperate measures? Or just finding the right 30-something pitcher?

"The one place we really had a need for was at the top of the rotation," Henry said. "You have exceptions to any rule, and certainly this is one of them.”

“Philosophically, we all understand that with certain lengths of contracts, there’s a great deal of risk involved," Dombrowski said. "If you’re going to go out and sign a legitimate No. 1 starter, you’re going to have to be in a position to give the length of contract that we did. We analyzed it. We took the best risk we possibly can."

The Red Sox officially introduced Price at a press conference Friday evening at Fenway Park.

Price – the first overall pick in 2007 by the Rays – won the American League Cy Young Award in 2012. Last season, he went a combined 18-5 with an AL-leading 2.45 ERA in 32 starts between Detroit and Toronto last season, finishing second in Cy Young voting.

At 3.09, he has the best ERA among active AL pitchers. His ERA+ (which adjusts for a pticher's league and home park) of 126 is second among active AL pitchers. He is a workhorse. In eight seasons since making his major league debut in 2008, Price has averaged 34 starts and 227 innings, finishing in the top 10 in Cy Young voting four times..

His numbers in the American League East have been impressive:

In 31 games (30 starts) against the Yankees he is 13-7 with a 4.04 ERA, a 1.299 WHIP, and 8/1 strikeouts per nine innings. Against the Orioles, he is 8-4 (2.65) in 19 starts with a 1.210 WHIP and 8.8 K/9. In 21 starts against the Blue Jays he is 16-2 (2.41), with a 1.064 WHIP and 7.89 K/9. In three starts against the Rays he is 1-2 (4/26) with a 0.895 WHIP and 9.0 K/9.

The Red Sox acquired Price to lead them back to the postseason. But it’s his October numbers that are head-scratchers. In 14 games (eight starts), he is 2-7 (5.12). In those eight starts he is 0-7 while his team is 0-8.

For Price, it’s just a matter of time.

“I know good things are going to happen to me in October,” Price added. “That just hasn’t been the case thus far. I know those tides are going to change. I work too hard. I know I can throw the baseball in the postseason the way I throw it in the regular season.”

But it’s not just his pitching the Sox are banking on. As Price has demonstrated throughout his career and again Friday at Fenway, he is engaging, affable and outgoing, both in person and on social media. He wants to have a role in the community outside the walls of Fenway Park.

Having visited Boston many times, he is familiar with the area and its denizens. He would often explore the city, sometimes by foot, often on a rental bike – the latter of which Werner quickly put the kibosh on. “No more Hubways,” the chairman said.

“I’ve experienced (Boston),” Price said. “I know it’s not always going to go good out on the field. But I’m 30 years old now. I feel like I’ve been through a lot of things on the baseball field and I’ve learned how to handle those things, whether good or bad, whether I handle them the right way or the wrong way. I still learned from those experiences. That’s something I’m always trying to do. I’m always trying to get better. I’m always trying to learn how to handle certain situations better. I think I’ve done that.”

It’s that kind of accountability the Sox are also counting on. Only Wade Miley, who went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA made more than 30 starts last season. He also led the team with 193 2/3 innings pitched. Clay Buchholz, whom the Sox had been hoping would eventually step into the ace’s role, made just 18 starts, limited by injuries, as he has been in the last six seasons and seven of the last eight.

In 2013, Lester made 33 starts, throwing 213 1/3 regular-season innings, the last to do so until Miley in 2015.

“I think every pitcher will be able to benefit from [Price] and every teammate will,” said manager John Farrell. “I think what guys are going to come to know is how engaging David is, how giving he is of his experiences, his knowledge.

“He is going to be welcomed with open arms in our clubhouse.”

Even by David Ortiz. Those kerfuffles the two have had will soon be distant memories.

"Big Papi and myself, we’re both competitors," Price said. "What he’s done for this organization and the game of baseball is extremely special and I’m ready to be one of his really good friends. I watched him from across the field and always get to see him on TV and stuff like that and the guy’s a competitor and that’s what I am, too."

And that’s what the Red Sox are banking on.