Ranking the 10 worst contracts in the American League East

9. David Price – 1 Year, $16 Million of Red Sox Money Remaining

We can’t reasonably place Price’s lingering single season of burden higher on this list, but we’d also be remiss if we went a whole 10-deep list without noting that the Boston Red Sox are still paying Price to maybe not even play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are also shopping the ex-ace to give him a better opportunity to start.

This one-year half remainder is of course the last vestige of the seven-year, $210 million deal Dave Dombrowski signed him to prior to the 2016 season. Necessary to bring the rotation boom back to Boston? Probably; Price underperformed (especially against the Yankees), but was ultimately a key piece on the 2018 World Series champions (frustratingly so).

His contract was tacked onto Mookie Betts in order to facilitate the lamest Sox blockbuster of their modern era of cost-cutting, leaving Boston with half of the lefty’s $32 million AAV for his age 34-36 seasons. Even though the 2020 pandemic saw Price’s salary pro-rated (he also opted out), that’s still a bucket of cash to pay a regressing lefty you don’t even employ anymore.

Thanks for the memories, David Price’s contract. We’ll miss you when you’re off the books.