Everything hinges on a Price trade (or non-trade).
A few of us have toyed around with the simulator to find the best deal for Price, but a lot of times we’ve tried seeing what bad contracts come back.
The thing is, the Sox are better off just paying Price to pitch elsewhere, since every $3mill they pay another team counts as only $1mi towards the 2020 luxury tax calculation (with the remaining counting against it in 2021 and 2022).
MLBTR writers have said the Sox might need to pay as much as $60 mill to unload Price, or $20 mill per season. If this is correct, and I am going to assume it is since no General Managers are returning my calls, the only contracts they should even consider taking back are Wil Myers and Rougned Odor, as their AAV’s are much lower than actual money owed. Of the two, I would greatly prefer Odor, since he is owed less,has a much lower AAV, plays 2b, has serious power (30+ home runs in 3 of the last 4 seasons) and is a lot younger.
Price plus $21mill for Odor ($8.25mill AAV, owed $37.5 mill over 3 years) does come close to the $60 mill payout and still saves the Sox about $16 mill towards the tax, which is more than just paying a team $60 mill would save...