Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiefsandO'sfan
I don't know why that Radio guy would even bring Price name up in a trade. Why would the Ray's trade a true ACE under team control till 2016 ?
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Because he qualifies for arbitration before next season. He currently makes $4.35 million dollars. Estimates are that it will jump to $10 million/season in arbitration, and that's about 1/6 of the Rays' payroll.
His second arb year, it likely goes to $13/14 million.
And his third year, he's likely at $16 million.
A lot of baseball people are questioning whether they can carry that salary while improving enough in other areas to get back to the World Series.
They need cheap, controllable offense (at SS or 1B, preferably) to get back there. They have quite a bit of cheap pitching and can save a lot of money on Price without a precipitous drop-off in his replacement.
Price will be floated on the trade market. That thought is pretty accepted in baseball circles right now.