Save Our Sox: How to Replace David Price

Danville, Kentucky -- Folks, disaster can strike when you least expect it. Take it from me. Just the other day, my whole lunch was ruined when I tried to use an expired Wendy's coupon. The only thing that got me out of bed that morning was the idea of digging into a hot bowl of chili, baked potatoes with sour cream, topped off by a Baconator.

I planned my entire day around a trip to Wendy's for an early lunch. I got to my local Wendy's promptly at 11:15 AM, and placed my order: 1 bowl of Dave's famous chili, 1 baked potato with all the fixings, and 1 extra-large Baconator. My mouth was watering at the mere thought of that heaping stack of beef with thick peppery bacon snugged between those sizzling patties. I could practically taste the rich sour cream, chives, and shredded cheese that so lovingly adorn every wholesome baked potato served by Wendy's. I had a coupon for each component of my order. But when I went to pay, the cashier shot me down. My coupon was expired - the promotion only lasted through January. My world was upended. I was not prepared for this contingency. I had to improvise.

Good baseball teams are prepared to deal with unpredictable contingencies: like the stunning news that David Price might have to undergo Tommy John surgery. This revelation has caught the unprepared and poorly-managed Boston Red Sox totally flat-footed. Aside from acquiring the temper-tantrum prone Chris Sale in a blockbuster trade, the Sox have spent the off-season shedding invaluable pitching depth like Clay Buchholz, despite the voluminous injury histories of Steven Wright and Drew Pomeranz.

The Red Sox would be better positioned to absorb the loss of Price if they had kept Buchholz and been more aggressive in pursuing many of the high marquee pitchers available via free agency and trade. Jered Weaver could've been had. John Danks, R.A. Dickey, and Bartolo Colon were available as well. Any of those four pitchers would've made great additions to the suddenly thin Red Sox rotation. Big Bart Colon, in particular, was signed for a bargain price - he would've been an excellent fit in Fenway, and has been considerably more successful in the postseason than the overpaid playoff under-performer David Price.

But the past is past. The Red Sox need to look to the future. Fortunately, all is not lost. David Price is not as hard to replace as you might expect; especially with Rick Porcello, the reigning Cy Young champ and stalwart groundball guru, still leading the rotation. There are plenty of worthy arms available on the free agent market or via trade that would make excellent additions to the Red Sox rotation. Here are just a few:

DOUG FISTER

If I'm Dave Dombrowski, this guy is #1 on my list of replacement options. I laid out the case for why the Colorado Rockies should sign him earlier this winter. He's a groundball guy - the type of batted ball profile you want when you play home games in Fenway Park, a toy stadium that turns lazy fly balls into two-baggers thanks to the Green Monster. He rebuilt his value by winning 12 games in limited action with the Houston Astros last season. Just a couple of seasons ago he was a serious Cy Young candidate with the Washington Nationals, posting a sterling 2.41 ERA and 16 wins.

Moreover, Doug makes sense from a chemistry perspective. Dave Dombrowski knows this - back in 2011 he swung a season-changing trade for Doug Fister while serving as GM for the Detroit Tigers. In addition, Doug Fister and Rick Porcello are former teammates; while Rick is clearly now the groundball master, he wouldn't be what he is today if Fister hadn't taught him how to Dougie.

JAKE PEAVY

If I'm Dave the dealer, Peavy is option #2. The chemistry case for Jake the Snake is obvious. As the GM of the Tigers at the time, Dave is no doubt aware of the three team trade made in 2013 between the Tigers, Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox that won Boston the World Series. Avisail Garcia to Chicago. Jose Iglesias to Detroit. Jake Peavy to the Red Sox. And from there, the Red Sox to a World Series championship. In 2013, Peavy helped shepherd the Red Sox to the promised land. The next year, Peavy won the World Series again with the San Francisco Giants. Rings on rings on rings.

Peavy was injured in 2016, but posted a solid 3.73 ERA in 2014 and an even better 3.58 ERA in 2015. Both of those ERAs bested David Price's bloated 3.99 ERA in 2016. It's shocking to me that he is still unsigned. With the 2013 championship core slowly disappearing from the team - David Ortiz has retired, Mike Napoli has moved on, Buchholz has been traded - it's important to have some guys who have "been there before" around. Peavy has been there before. Bring him aboard, Dave.

CONCLUSION

There are other great options to be had. Perhaps the Tigers could be persuaded to part with the electric Mike Pelfrey. Tim Lincecum, Tim Hudson, and Matt Cain are other veterans who could be had for a bargain price, and who also have extensive postseason experience during the San Francisco Giants' reign of even-year dominance over the MLB. But Fister and Peavy are both no-brainers for the Red Sox. They can go toe-to-toe with David Price, particularly in the postseason where Price has always been a non-factor.

Sometimes you have to improvise. I ultimately didn't get my chili, baked potato, and Baconator. I planned my day around that Wendy's coupon - but life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. An expired coupon, like an unexpected elbow surgery, can be a bit of a gut punch. But it wasn't the end of the world, though I did have a bit of a meltdown that resulted in an embarrassing trip to the county sheriff's office and my expulsion from that Wendy's restaurant. I ate at Popeye's Chicken later that day and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their mashed potatoes and spicy chicken. It wasn't the Baconator that I so craved, but sometimes, your second best option can be just as good as the real thing. Hopefully the Boston Red Sox learn that lesson before it's too late.

Rich Hill: LA's Last Best Hope

Danville, Kentucky -- In his 1949 treatise titled The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell forwarded the concept of the monomyth. In Campbell's estimation, all human storytelling follows a universal narrative. An every-man hero abandons his mundane, familiar lifestyle to embark on a mysterious and dangerous adventure. Eventually, the hero discovers within himself strength and might beyond his imagination, culminating in the ultimate defeat of his nemesis.

But every hero requires a mentor: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Doc Brown, Optimus Prime, or the biblical John the Baptist. Baseball teams hungry for postseason glory are no different. Show me a World Series champion, and I'll show you a wizened, grisly old veteran who taught the team how to rub dirt on their wounds and never stop fighting. Just take a look at the rosters of the past three World Series Champions. The 2013 Boston Red Sox had David Ortiz, John Lackey, and Jake Peavy as its emotional anchors. The 2014 San Francisco Giants had the aging finesse pitcher Tim Hudson, and also Jake Peavy. The 2015 World Series Champion Kansas City Royals™ didn't have Jake Peavy, but they did have the towering Chris Young and consummately professional Ryan Madson.

Folks, Rich Hill can be the Los Angeles Dodgers' Jake Peavy.

In this Danville man's expert opinion, a showdown between the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series is looking increasingly likely. The over-hyped Bryce Harper has been in hibernation for several months, clearing a path for the Dodgers to defeat the Washington Nationals. Meanwhile, the Cubs hold a commanding 2-0 series lead in the NLDS over the seemingly un-killable Giants. Don't count out the Giants until their pulse is gone and the corpse has gone into rigor mortis, but I like the Cubs' chances to win that series too. The real question is: do the Dodgers have the veteran presence of mind to get past this historically excellent Cubs team?

I know nerds are getting hot and bothered about the Cubs. They're the odds-on favorites to win it all this October and ride back to the North-Side of Chicago atop a celebratory parade. Nate Silver and company, the folks who have continually bungled 2016 presidential election forecasts, have all but crowned the Cubs as World Series champs.

 We've all seen the saberphiles drool about their run differential.

ICYMI: that cubs run differential... pic.twitter.com/86KbmTNMtv

— Ben Dilday (@BenDilday) October 5, 2016

But don't sleep on the Dodgers. The Cubbies may have David Ross and Ben Zobrist to provide veteran leadership; but don't underestimate what sagacious slugger Adrian Gonzalez brings to the table for the Trolley Dodgers, especially when combined with the supernatural phenom talent of ace Clayton Kershaw.

The Dodgers' true ace-in-the-hole is Rich Hill, a 36-year old left-handed pitcher who is craftier than the lawyers who keep getting Hillary Clinton acquitted for manslaughter and purgery. Rich Hill seemed to be destined for the glue factory after hitting free agency last off-season, consigned to irrelevance like the Randy Wolfs of the world. But then he did something that the spreadsheet gazers didn't expect: he had a career season with the Oakland Athletics, pitching like some sort of 'Clayton Kershaw-lite' when he wasn't battling blisters and other random health issues. After being snubbed by most MLB teams last offseason, Hill is now poised to make bank when he hits free agency this offseason, especially in a market mostly devoid of good pitchers.

Now, 'Clayton Kershaw-lite' and the real Clayton Kershaw have an opportunity to lead the Dodgers to their first championship since the heroic Kirk Gibson wore Dodger blue. A 1-2 punch of lefties Kershaw and Hill can match anybody in the league.

Old Richard Hill doesn't overpower hitters; he has what old-school scouts would call a 'Bugs Bunny' curveball that loops and droops across the strike-zone as if he's pulling it with a string. Velocity alone doesn't get it done in the postseason. You need grit, skill, and wiliness, like Mr. Hill has.

Rich has been around the block: been there, done that. He's played on the East Coast with the Red Sox, and on the West Coast with Billy Beane's team. He's peed on his blisters, like all men of a certain age eventually do. And at age 36, he isn't getting any younger. He wants a ring, and he wants it now. Clayton Kershaw, a mythic hero in the Campbellian sense, may be the team's spiritual leader. But to accomplish his mission and discover his own inner powers he will need a mentor, just like Luke Skywalker and Marty McFly did. Kershaw needs Rich Hill. The Dodgers need Rich Hill. He's their only hope.