He's a really good pitcher. There are fewer and fewer teams every year who would be genuinely hamstrung by balling out on a seven year contract for a 30 year old pitcher, and even when there were a lot of those teams the Red Sox were never one of them. So, he'll probably be really, really good for a few years and then less good as he declines into middle age. But he's a smart pitcher with more working for him than just a big, fat fastball and profiles as the sort of guy who can succeed while losing a bit of his stuff. And he fits Boston's apparent interest in pursuing special lefties, which is kind of a duh. A "meh" lefty in that park should just hang himself by his shoelaces, but the Price/Lester continuum (Eduardo Rodriguez, they hope) is different.

The fun thing that's happened the last couple years is that these opt-out points, which I used to hate for teams, have actually become a pretty nice safety valve when applied to a real life ace like Price. Price can opt out in three years, and provided he stays his healthy self, he almost certainly will. Salaries will keep going up and that affects the top-shelf talent disproportionately. Look at Zack Greinke, hot shit on the FA market three years ago, equally hot shit now.

The time for restraint will be after the 2018 season. For now, the things that Boston fans can or should worry about are the unpredictable: like Price and his excellent record of health and durability getting a career-altering shoulder injury. It could happen. He could also get hit by a bus or run over his foot with a lawnmower.

So yeah, not a lot to say for a rich team. Throwing a genuine #1 at the top of your rotation doesn't require the same amount of thought as wondering what you're gonna do with Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval and David Ortiz and that young outfield on the same roster. Everybody you liked slides back one hypothetical slot and therefore looks better. The pitcher you hated seeing every five days suddenly doesn't have a job.

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"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad