MLB Rumors: Could Tampa Bay Rays Trade David Price Next?

By Andy Schmidt
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

With the Tampa Bay Rays’ trade of James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, it would appear that the Rays have cleared enough room in their starting rotation. There is one question that is going through my mind, and that’s if the Rays decide to trade David Price before he would hit free-agency and could hit the jackpot.

Price has the potential to be the first $200 million pitcher in Major League Baseball history and with the market and the few fans that show up for Tampa Bay games, it may be hard for the Rays to come up with that much money.

The Rays got two great pitching prospects back from Kansas City in Mike Montgomery and Jake Odorizzi. Montgomery and Odorizzi could easily move into the Tampa rotation in the next year or two which would allow the Rays to trade Price but do the Rays really want to do that? The Rays should just keep Price and think about trading one of the other two if they need help somewhere in their starting lineup which appears well-stacked now.

Price is easily in the top 10 for pitchers in baseball right now and will get paid in short order. The future of small-market teams is very dependent on a move like this if the Rays can pay Price what he deserves or what the market dictates. I think the Rays should just extend Price now and give him a deal that lasts seven or eight years for over $150 million and save themselves the trouble.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports or like his Facebook page.

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