The David Price trade rumors will continue to heat up as the deadline gets closer and teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, LA Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Indians all could be interested n making a deal, while the Tampa Bay Rays must decide what is best for the team as they are getting back into the playoff race.
The Mariners are looking for more pitching and the LA Dodgers also want to add more strength to the rotation and those are two teams that could be in the mix. Hardball Talk reports that the Yankees are likely out of it, while the Indians and Cardinals also could be in the running. The Rays may not even trade Price, but right now he is pitching lights out and they may not have a better chance to do it than now.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians could be a surprise team in line to trade for David Price, while the Seattle Mariners have also been linked to Price in the past year. The Rays are making a push towards the second half of the season to pull themselves out of their terrible start and that could keep the Rays from trading Price. According to the CPD, Price is a main target for the team and Indians scouts have been looking at Rays players to see who could potentially be involved in a deal.
According to Hardball Talk, the Cardinals are interested in making a deal for Price since the team is dealing with a number of injuries in the rotation, but they do not want to give up a top prospect just to see Price walk in two years. The Mariners are not as worried, as they see this two year window as a time for them to make the playoffs and they can deal with getting a draft pick if Price leaves as a free agent after next season. The Cardinals likely would have to part with Oscar Taveras or Carlos Martinez and to do that, which is why they are looking at him making a commitment to the team.
Price has been very solid this season and he has a sub 3.00 ERA and over 150 strikeouts this season despite playing for a bad team and he continues to pitch well. The Cardinals know that Price is a great pitcher, but they are looking at keeping him long term if they make a deal and he likely would cost over $100 million and that is a lot for the Cards to shell out. The Reds are looking to make deals and Hardball Talk reports they are interested in Byrd and Bastardo from the Phillies.
The Dodgers need some arms as well to add to their deep stable and the Cardinals are one team that wants a commitment from Price if they are going to give up prospects for him. Price has been on fire of late as he has gone 4-0 in July with a sub 1.00 Era and that has made his price go up even more for the Rays. Tampa is not sure they want to sell yet since Price is also under team control next year, but they are not signing him long term and this could be the best option for both sides.