The Cubs are looking to upgrade their starting rotation with a big name, and Zack Greinke and David Price are atop their list per The Chicago Tribune. Price is expected to earn a contract worth more than $200 million this offseason, but that hasn’t scared suitors.
The Giants are reportedly going through “background preparation” on Price, and may try to pair him up with fellow left-hander Madison Bumgarner.
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Price, the 2012 American League Cy Young winner, has been among the league’s top starters since 2010. The only knock on Price, 30, has been his bafflingly bad postseason performances. The Giants may be banking on Bumgarner teaching him a thing or two about dominating once the calendar shifts to October.
While he’s ranged from passable to atrocious in eight postseason starts, the benefits outweigh the cons. He has proven durable by making 27 or more starts in every year since 2010. He has shown consistent control, walking fewer than 50 batters in three straight seasons. And Price is a strikeout artist, setting down 200-plus batters in four of his last five campaigns.
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The only factor limiting the pursuit of Price is money. Teams are paying extreme premiums for top-level pitching, as evidenced by Max Scherzer’s seven-year, $210 million deal, and Clayton Kershaw’s seven-year, $215 million extension. Paying Price that type of money may be worth it for San Francisco simply to keep him out of Chicago’s rotation, however.
The Cubs have arguably baseball’s best young lineup, chock full of players in their early-to-mid 20s. With several of their young stars on team-friendly contracts, it’s not difficult for them to splurge on the rotation, which already includes 2015 Cy Young contender Jake Arrieta and former World Series champion Jon Lester.
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