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Dodgers Rumors: Price, Cueto Never Drew Serious Interest From Team

Dodgers fans won’t be particularly fond hearing this rumor, but the front office — under extreme scrutiny for non-activity — never figured much into the free agency discussion for David Price.

Now, part of this is timing (more on that in a bit) and other factors, but hearing this is a tad disconcerting given the connection between Andrew Friedman and David Price.




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This, via Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal:

The Dodgers, from all indications, did not make a big run at David Price. They got blind-sided by the D-backs on Zack Greinke. And they did not seem terribly interested in signing Johnny Cueto.

Now, regarding Greinke, everyone was blind-sided. The Diamondbacks came out of nowhere and reportedly offered an extra year compared to the other teams involved. They’re taking an immense risk paying Greinke for so long at his age. This cannot be stated strongly enough.

Cueto has some serious questions after signing such a huge deal with the Giants and it makes some sense the Dodgers were reluctant to sign him. He very well could turn out to be a value bet for the Giants, but the Dodgers obviously preferred long-term financial flexibility over hoping Cueto’s time in Kansas City is more outlier than the norm.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Now, back to the timing as a major issue with the Dodgers and David Price. Remember, the Dodgers were heavily immersed in trying to re-sign Greinke when Price decided Boston was the place for him.

Of course, any team can negotiate with multiple players at the same time, but let’s say, just hypothetically, the Dodgers make highly competitive offers to the both Greinke and Price and both accept… Fans would obviously be jubilant, but if that isn’t the stated goal (as it wasn’t), the front office would be forced to completely rethink how the franchise’s direction.

Roughly half-a-billion dollars being spent on a couple pitchers in a single offseason before fixing some more legitimate issues (second base and the bullpen) wouldn’t be smart.

So, while the initial hit of not seeing the cash-heavy Dodgers make a legitimate offer to Price is somewhat surprising, it makes sense when you take the timeline of how all this played out into account.

NEXT: The Dodgers Are Lined Up Well for 2018 Super Free Agent Class

Staff Writer

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3 Comments

  1. Some good points!  

    However, the Dodgers were clearly caught flat-footed this off season.  

    Had the front office been proactive and viewed getting one of Price or Grienke a must, they should have put their strongest offers on the table for Price and Grienke, put pressure on them to make a decision early on in the off season.  

    You can’t just ignore Price, while you wait on Grienke.  There were only two legit aces out there.  

    Dodgers made a bigger mistake not coughing up what was needed to secure Cole Hamels last July.  

    The Dodgers scored enough runs to win Game Three of the NLDS vs. the Mets and I have to believe Hamels wins that game.  

    Add in the fact that the price the Rangers paid for Hamels was FAR LESS than the going rate today for starting pitchers.

  2. Best way for dodger fans is refuse to go to the games then it will hurt pocket books, waiting until 2018  you have to be kidding

  3. Agree that the Dodgers put all their eggs in the Greinke basket and allowed the DBacks to snatch Greinke right from their very hand.
    Your Cole Hamels satement is only partially true when you look at it just from a financial perspective. But consider the top talent that the Dodgers would have given up which as you say were “needed” to pull off the trade for Hamels. When you factor this in to the equation suddenly Hamels in not as appealing. By the way when it’s hard to win the NLDS when the red hot Mets beat Kershaw and Greinke in the series.

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