With Feinsand
report linking the Cardinals to Bumgarner, who should command “a deal worth at least $100 million,” we might be able to see a market for a potential Price trade (which I still don’t think the Sox should do, but whatever).
Bumgarner and Price may be roughly comparable, depending on your lens. Price is obviously older by nearly four years — no small thing — but they’ve
each been worth 6.2 fWAR from 2017-19, factoring lengthy injuries to both. If anything, the swing is in Price’s favor, considering it took a younger Bumgarner nearly 100 more IP to amass that production, he may have lingering shoulder issues from a weird injury, and he did it all in a pitcher’s park in the NL West.
If the Twins, Reds, Cardinals, White Sox and Braves are in on Bumgarner at Wheeler money (5/$120) — plus maybe the non-Yankee losers of the Cole sweepstakes too (LAD, ANA, SD?) — it’s not a stretch to think that one of the runners up would give something for Price at 3/$96.
Maybe not a prospect, but a legitimate major league player that fills one of the holes we currently have. Considering some were thinking we’d have to package Betts or Benny in order to move him, this would be much better.