The Tampa Bay Rays likely will trade David Price this season with how terrible they are playing and teams like the NY Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles all could be in the mix if the Rays are trading their former Cy Young pitcher in 2014.
The Rays have had a tough season and they are fading in the AL as the worst team in the league and with Price set to be a free agent in 2015, the team could look at trading him this year. According to USA Today, the Rays are not gearing up to trade Price just yet, but the team could look at doing it in the future if they get a deal that's good enough. The team moved James Shields and got Wil Myers out of it and if they can snag a top prospect they will pull the trigger,
Price is still very young and is one of the best pitchers in baseball and that makes him a target for teams in need of pitching, including the Yankees, Cardinals and Orioles. This season Price has once again been strong despite the Rays record and he is 6-7 with a 3.63 ERA and he also has 144 strikeouts this season and he comes in with a career 3.24 ERA and at his age, it could be worth it to trade for him and sign him to a long term extension, which the Rays would love to do, but likely can't afford.
The Yankees and Orioles are two teams in the mix in the wild card race and they could look at trading for Price, but the Yanks may not have the prospects for it. Gary Sanchez is an option, but they have clung onto him for years, while the O's may have some more names to move. The Cardinals also could use an upgrade, while the Mariners would rather wait for James Paxton and Taijuan walker to come back rather than trade a prospect for Price.
The Mariners had some interest in Price during the winner before he signed his small deal with the Rays and they would have pulled off the deal, but Price did not want to sign an extension there. The team is playing well and they may want to risk moving young players to get another top of the line starter, but their main issues right now aren't pitching and no one wants to mess up the formula in the emerald city while the team is in playoffs contention.
Price spoke to the media recently about the trade rumors, saying that they were bothering him a bit and it was hard for him to avoid them since the team is so far out of things. Price has been one of the leaders in the AL in strikeouts and that has come with his team struggling hard and if he isn't traded this season, it's likely that he will be traded during the offseason or next year before he hits free agency. The Rays have been terrible and if it goes from bad to worse it could be a major fire sale.
