David Price was scheduled to start for the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday afternoon, but there were many who expected the pitcher to be pulled ahead of game time in anticipation of a deadline deal, or just to preserve his health on the off-chance that a deal might come together.
More from MLB
- Braves get dose of bad news on Max Fried as ace nears return
- Shohei Ohtani trade rumors live tracker: Every update so far
- MLB Rumors: Yankees mistake, Cardinals trade package, Cubs choice
- Inside the Clubhouse: What I’m hearing ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline
- After frantic trade day, Kiké Hernandez grateful for second chance with Dodgers
But when game time arrived for the Rays Wednesday at noon-ish local time, who took the mound for Tampa Bay? David Price himself.
This does not mean the trade rumors about David Price should be entirely shut down. It means they should be dialed back from “probably not” to “almost certainly not.”
A team that is looking to trade a starter is not going to let that starter pitch a day before the deadline. It just doesn’t happen. Only way a trade goes down now is if some team contacts Tampa at the last second with a package so mind-blowing they simply can’t say no.
Tampa doesn’t anticipate this happening. No one anticipates this happening. Jon Lester might get dealt. Cole Hamels might get dealt. A lot of people might get dealt. But David Price, he isn’t getting dealt.
Tampa Bay didn’t put their team together for this season with an eye toward folding. They started out like s–t but they’re playing well now. They’re going to play this sucker out with David Price at the top of their rotation where he belongs.
Like FanSided on Facebook.
Follow Dan Zinski on Twitter
Subscribe to the Fansided Daily Newsletter. Sports news all up in your inbox.