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David Price is a free agent this offseason, and the Tigers are in free fall. They’re nine games back in the AL Central but just 3.5 back in the wild card race behind four other teams, so there is hope, but they are also going to be without Miguel Cabrera -- the current AL leader in both batting average and on-base percentage -- for at least another month. Combine that with a pitching staff that can’t secure a lead (or can’t hold the ones they get), and things look bleak even if they maybe aren’t just yet. That explains why Detroit isn’t planning on trading its ace, but it doesn’t explain why the Tigers aren’t negotiating an extension with Price yet.
Price puts the Tigers in a difficult spot. It wouldn’t be surprising if he took off after this summer, if only because the Tigers are already loaded with high-end contracts -- one of which, Justin Verlander’s, is particularly painful already -- and just this past winter, they let Max Scherzer walk as a free agent after submitting an offer well below his market. So, dealing Price would make a lot of sense if the Tigers feel they are out of it, since all they will get for his departure is a compensatory draft pick otherwise. But, sitting just 3.5 games out of a wild card spot means they aren’t out of it. Maybe the next few weeks of July change that, as a lineup with Cabrera in it could barely support the pitching staff. For now, though, Price is staying put. At least until November.
The market for Price would likely be a busy one -- he would be an alternative to the Reds’ Johnny Cueto, who is in a similar situation as a free-agent-to-be. He would also serve as an alternative to Cole Hamels, since Price is a rental, and also isn’t controlled by a team undergoing a management transformation. The Tigers might even be able to get back more than they originally paid for Price (that deal is considered by many to be a little light) but to do so, they’ll have to move him first. And as of now, it seems unlikely they will.
- Todd Frazier, third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, won the 2015 Home Run Derby in front of a Cincinnati crowd.
- The Home Run Derby was all kinds of different on Monday, but if you want real different, take a journey back to the very first derby. No, not the old black-and-white, player vs. player television show with prizes that you have definitely seen on ESPN Classic. The 1985 one.
- Imagine a Home Run Derby where players suspected of steroid use had to battle each other in order to earn entry into the Hall of Fame. There’s money in this idea, MLB. Call us.
- The worst/best part of every Home Run Derby: short children who will never, ever catch a ball. Presumably you are not a short child, but you can simulate the feeling by playing Jon Bois’ Home Run Derby-inspired video game.
- These sad children are not to be confused with the ones who took selfies with a selfie bat on Monday night.
- You can buy team chemistry, it’s just not clear what kind of chemistry you’ll be buying.
- There are 76 All-Stars in 2015, and it sounds like a lot. It isn’t, though, which you probably could have guessed considering the way that first sentence was written.
- Season ticket holders have filed a class-action lawsuit against MLB over safety concerns. They want stadiums to have more netting -- like, way, way more netting -- to protect them from foul balls and broken bats.
- Mets fans despise the Wilpons, so #AskManfred was as good a spot as any to let off some steam about New York’s horrid ownership situation.
- Blue Jays hitters Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin anticipate pitching acquisitions at the deadline to help their team. They might want to ask Jose Bautista about his trade deadline crankiness last year and its source before they get too attached to the idea.
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