“Why would I leave here to go to a team that’s not as good as this team?” Price told MassLive. “I came here to win. I don’t worry about all the other stuff. Just come here to win. We’re going to have a really good chance to do that.”
Price, 33, is in the third year of his seven-year, $217 million contract with the Red Sox but can opt out of the deal after this season. He is scheduled to make $31 million next season and $32 million in each of the final three years of the deal, which is the richest in baseball history for a pitcher.
Price also touched on his role in Boston’s upcoming World Series chase earlier Tuesday in a session with a larger group of reporters in the Red Sox clubhouse. The Red Sox (99-46) became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot later Tuesday and, barring a late-season swoon, will enter the postseason with baseball’s best record.
A five-time All-Star, Price has a 5.03 ERA in 17 career postseason appearances, including nine starts. He threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen last year in Boston’s ALDS loss to Houston, but struggled in his only postseason start with the Red Sox, allowing five runs in just 3 1/3 innings against Cleveland in 2016.
“I could go 35-0 in the regular season with a zero [ERA] and it wouldn’t matter,” Price told reporters, according to Boston radio station WEEI. “I need to win in October. That’s that; [the] regular season means nothing for me.”
Price, who is scheduled to start Wednesday in Boston’s game against the Blue Jays, is 14-6 with a 3.57 ERA in 27 starts this season. The former Cy Young Award winner has bounced back nicely after a rough start to the season, going 5-0 with a 2.04 ERA over his last nine starts.
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