Minnesota Twins: 5 trade targets to improve the Twins’ starting rotation
By Chris Schad
David Price
On name recognition alone, David Price would be a huge acquisition for the Twins. As a former American League Cy Young Award winner, five-time All-Star and world champion, his resume profiles someone that could fill the ace role the Twins have been trying to fill since Johan Santana left town.
As far as his performance goes? Well, that might be an issue.
Price is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career in 2019 as he spent the majority of the season dealing with a left wrist injury. The struggle produced a 7-5 record with a 4.28 ERA that was his highest since his first full year as a starter in 2009. His 2019 season wasn’t an isolated incident either, as Price wound up missing a majority of the 2017 season with elbow issues.
The on-field performance would be enough to warrant a trade, but Price hasn’t exactly been a model teammate in Boston either. In his first year with the Red Sox, the left-hander went to war with the Boston media and even got into it with broadcaster and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley on a team plane and again last summer.
So why would the Twins want to acquire Price? Partially because his 2019 might not be as bad as it seemed. While Price did struggle in his 22 starts, his 10.7 K/9 rate was the highest of his career and his FIP of 3.62 was more in line with his 3.35 career number, suggesting he deserved a better fate than what his fielders had given him.
Price will be owed $32 million for each of the next three seasons, but that number is close to what the Twins were willing to shell out for many of the pitchers on the market. If Price is a pitcher that simply is better in smaller markets (he thrived in Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Detroit before signing with the Red Sox in 2017), he could be a steal depending on how willing Boston is to get away from the luxury tax threshold.