Andrew Friedman: trading David Price is ‘only chance for success’
By Hayden Kane
The Tampa Bay Rays know they have to trade David Price. They have been able to defer that reality more than once over the course of the last couple seasons, most recently this past off-season. It was at that point that they decided to keep Price instead of dealing him, hoping for another postseason run in 2014. But it has finally caught up with them, and that trade will likely happen soon.
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The Rays technically can hold onto Price a little bit longer because he is under team control through 2015. That would do significant damage to their leverage in any trade, however, as a deal at the 2015 deadline would be inevitable. The unfortunate reality in Tampa Bay is that everybody knows the team cannot afford to let Price hit free agency and get nothing for him.
General manager Andrew Friedman acknowledged that reality this weekend, saying that the team will most likely trade him soon in the best interests of the franchise and their tiny payroll. As quoted by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times:
"“I think, in a lot of ways, it’s our only chance for success,” Friedman said. “The trades that we’ve made, looking back, the only reason we got good players in return is because we traded really good players. And so it’s important for us to know what our weaknesses are and what our limitations are and operate within them.”"
Given their elite scouting, front office, and coaching staffs, the team’s only true weakness is their lack of revenue. As such they are left to proactively move guys like Price and James Shields. Their ability to do so will be especially important this summer as they look to rebound quickly from what looks to be a disastrous 2014 campaign.