David Price responds to free agency rumors: ‘I’m going to play in Japan’
The MLB offseason hot stove was turned up a few degrees Monday with a big juicy report about the top free agent on the market.
David Price is expected to command a contract worth over $200 million over seven years. Where he lands, however, is atill shroud in mystery.
The Chicago Cubs are thought to be the front-runner for Price’s signature and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox are reported to be lurking as well. That’s not at all out of the ordinary. Big market teams with big payrolls are always linked with big-name free agent pitchers.
So what Price-related rumor caused a stir Monday? David Kaplan of CSN Chicago and Chicago’s ESPN 1000 put it out there that Price prefers to remain with the Toronto Blue Jays, the team he helped lift into the postseason after being dealt there before the trade deadline in July. What makes this a surprise is that while the Blue Jays are owned by deep-pocketed Rogers Communications, a Canadian media and telecommunications behemoth, they’ve never come close to investing that kind of money into an individual player.
[Check out Big League Stew on Tumblr for even more baseball awesomeness.]
Noticing a sudden rise in Twitter notifications, Price decided he had to end the speculation once and for all. What he revealed can be described as a stunning upset.
Before fans of the Yomiuri Giants start lining up to purchase Price jerseys, though, know this: the 30-year-old left-hander and 2015 AL Cy Young runner-up likes to crack jokes on a fairly regular basis.
And with all that we still have no idea where Price will pitch next season. The Winter Meetings this year are being held in Nashville, Price’s hometown, so expect to hear even more chatter about his future in the next couple weeks.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
