Don't trade David Price

The Rays have made their success on being hardheaded about their budget. They shouldn't be this year.

Price
(Image credit: (Leon Halip/Getty Images))

David Price is the most talked about man in baseball right now.

Dubbed "arguably the best starting pitcher to be available on the trade market since Tom Seaver" by The Wall Street Journal's Michael Salafino, Price is natural trade bait. The thinking goes like this: His contract with the Rays extends only to next season, after which he is likely to walk away for a team willing to overpay for his late prime and postprime years. Since the Rays are unlikely to be able to afford him, they'd be better off trading him for cheaper, high-upside assets now. Plus the Rays are currently in fourth place in the AL East with a losing record, so they have little to lose.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.