Which version of David Price will the Los Angeles Dodgers see in 2020?

The David Price of Old

To understand why David Price was a $32 million a year pitcher, we have to first know what kind of pitcher David Price was before he became a member of the Boston Red Sox in  2016.

From the moment he entered the league as the first overall pick of Tampa Bay Rays in the 2007 draft out of Vanderbilt University, Price was always labeled to be a top of the rotation arm. Price would make his MLB debut just a year later, getting a cup of coffee in September before becoming a weapon out of the Rays bullpen during their playoff run 2008.

Price became a full-time starter in 2009 and never looked back. During his 7-year stretch in Tampa Bay, the lefty would be an unquestionable staff ace, posting an 82-47 record, a 3.18 ERA, a 3.33 FIP, and a 122 ERA+. That led to four All-Star nods, three top-10 finishes in the Cy Young voting, and a Cy Young win in 2012.

The Rays would flip him to the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline of the 2014 season, when the penny-pinching Rays felt they would be best off trying to get as much value out of him a year away from free agency.

With the Tigers, Price gave Detroit 32 total starts before they themselves flipped him to another playoff content a year later, sending him to Toronto in a deal that netted them current staff ace, Matt Boyd. Price would finish 2nd in the AL Cy Young voting again in 2015, going 18-5 with a 2.49 ERA, a 2.76 FIP, and a career-best 164 ERA+ between Detroit and Toronto.

That level of success helped guide David Price from his arbitration years to franchise-record value deal with Boston, a 7-year, $217 million pact with the Red Sox.