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It didn't take long for the dominoes to start falling after Jordan Zimmermann signed with the Tigers, and one of the biggest dominoes was next in line, with David Price signing the richest pitching contract in history.

Before we get going, I wanted to mention that the historical mechanics grades come from the archives of Raising Aces articles or previous editions of the Starting Pitcher Guide. All of the grades are based on historical scores rather than a post-hoc analysis in the present day.

The Player: David Price

The Terms: Boston Red Sox for 7 years, $217 million

As if he hadn't spent enough of his career in the AL East, Price returns to play for his third club in the division, this time leading a Red Sox ballclub that has the talent on-hand for a quick turnaround and the financial means to patch the holes on the mound. Boston signed the lefty to the richest contract ever given to a pitcher (at least until Zack Greinke signs), shoring up the biggest weakness on the roster at an average cost of $31 million per annum through 2022. The Sox have locked in his age 30-to-36 seasons, but Price he can opt out after 2018, in case a 32-year old Price has maintained his worth while the market exploded – a best-case scenario for the Sawx, as it means that he was worth the $30 million that Price is owed for each of the next three three years.

Career Stats

• GS	IP	ERA	WHIP	H%	HR%	BB%	K%
  213	1441.7	3.09	1.13	21.5%	2.2%	6.3%	23.4%

The final snapshot of 2015 had David Price getting hit hard in the playoffs, losing the trust of his manager in the process. Granted, John Gibbons had been Price's manager for all of three months at that point, but the playoff struggles were nothing new to the southpaw, as Price has given up a 5.12 ERA in 63.3 career innings of postseason play with 11 homeruns allowed. His proclivity for the strike zone has left Price occasionally vulnerable to high-contact lineups (like that of the Royals), but Price has been able to continually develop his game over the years to present a new challenge for opposing hitters seemingly each time he takes the mound.

Left-handed batters haven't stood much of a chance against Price, with a career slash line of .220/.265/.312, and he has enjoyed pitching in Fenway, where he has a 1.95 ERA in 74.0 career innings (11 starts). He has also finished in the top two of the Cy Young voting three times in the last six years, including the second place finish of 2015, and the historical trends of free agency suggest that the Red Sox took advantage of a rare opportunity.

The Stuff

• 	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
  FB Velocity	94.0	95.5	95.7	96.2	94.5	94.2	94.8
  FB Frequency	74.5%	74.4%	70.4%	60.9%	53.8%	57.0%	53.0%
  CUT Frequency	*16.3%	*5.0%	9.4%	15.9%	18.0%	14.5%	16.2%
  CB Frequency	3.9%	15.6%	9.1%	11.1%	11.3%	8.8%	8.1%
  CH Frequency	5.3%	5.0%	11.0%	12.1%	16.8%	19.8%	22.8%

*He threw a slider in 2009-10, but converted to a cutter in 2011

The above chart lists the numbers from his past seven seasons, but it does not include his 14-inning cameo out of the bullpen in September 2008. The velocity spiked in Price's Cy Young-winning season of 2012, and though he suffered a stiff drop-off following that peak, he has maintained a pitch speed that qualifies as plus regardless of handedness (and gets an extra bump for his being a lefty). Back in 2009-10 he threw a slider, but he has taken off a bit of supination from that pitch to throw a 90-mph cutter instead. He began throwing the cutter with regularity in 2011 and over the past four seasons it has been his weapon of choice on one-sixth of the pitches that Price throws.

The lefty has morphed his arsenal along the way, and the most stark development has been with his changeup. The pitch has gone from after-thought to a premier platoon weapon, and in 2015 the change came into play against left-handers as well. Part of what makes Price so effective is his command of a four-pitch arsenal (five if you count the sinker) that he will mix with the same frequency regardless of count, rather than fall into a trap of early fastballs and late secondaries.

The Mechanics

Mechanics Report Card

• 	2012	2013	2014	2015
  Balance	60	65	60	55
  Momentum	60	55	55	55
  Torque	70	65	65	65
  Posture	60	65	65	60
  Repetition	65	70	70	70
  Overall	A	A	A	A -

For an explanation on the grading system for pitching mechanics, please consult this pair of articles.

Try not to get too spoiled from these early reports on Price and Zimmermann; I only give out about 10 A's per year, and Zimm and Price have been two of those ten for the past several seasons. Price now pitches from the stretch all the time, simplifying his process to augment excellent repetition. He nestles into the set position whether pitching from the windup or the stretch, and his rhythm-altering technique has made life hell on opposing base stealers – only two runners even attempted to steal second against Price last season, and both were caught. His unpredictability also makes it tough for this evaluator to get a precise reading on the stopwatch when timing his stride, because it's difficult to anticipate when the front foot will lift off the ground.