Armed with owner John Henry’s deep pockets and permission to spend, team president Dave Dombrowski alerted the Yankees and the AL East that, after two straight last-place finishes, the Red Sox are hell-bent on rising to the top of the division David Price helped the Blue Jays win last season.
The Red Sox and Price, the stud lefty free agent, agreed Tuesday on a seven-year deal for $217 million, the richest contract in history for a pitcher.
The mega-deal, first reported by the Boston Globe, follows Dombrowski acquiring closer Craig Kimbrel from the Padres for four minor-leaguers last month.
The Yankees attempted to get Kimbrel at the July 31 trade deadline, but weren’t in on Price.
“I saw first-hand what he can do for a team,’’ Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told The Post. “He made all the difference in the world. They got Kimbrel and Price, I guess they got tired of watching other teams win. They weren’t going to wait around.’’
Now the question facing the Yankees is this: Does Hal Steinbrenner think differently about not spending money in a year when the club doesn’t have significant money coming off the payroll? Losing Chis Capuano, Stephen Drew and Chris Young only shaved $12 million.
“No reaction,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday evening when asked how Price going to the Red Sox affects the Yankees.
The deal didn’t shock baseball executives because the industry knew Dombrowski had targeted Price, whom he acquired from the Rays for the Tigers in 2014. However, a few people who know the lefty felt he would shy away from Boston and the intense scrutiny Red Sox players constantly are under.
Zack Greinke remains a free agent, but the Yankees aren’t likely to be in the market for a $200 million pitcher. And Johnny Cueto hasn’t drawn a lot of interest internally from the Yankees, who have been monitoring free agents Jeff Samardzija and Wei-Yin Chen.
With the Price signing following Jordan Zimmermann taking five years and $110 million from the Tigers to leave the Nationals, a market is starting to develop.
Samardzija and Chen aren’t going to be near the top of that market, but they likely are in the $70 million-to-$90 million range, and that might be too rich for the Yankees.
While the Yankees preached they weren’t going to pass the $189 million payroll mark prior to the 2014 season, the Opening Day payroll that year was $197 million and by the end of the season the tab for the 40-man roster was $218 million.
Nevertheless, the Yankees lopped $74 million from the payroll following the 2013 season.
Could the Yankees see what the Red Sox have done and decide Chen and/or Samardzija — coming off a brutal year — are needed to improve a rotation loaded with health questions?
And with Mark Teixeira’s $22.5 million and Carlos Beltran’s $15 million disappearing following the 2016 season, would the Yankees get proactive and go after free-agent lefty slugger Chris Davis this offseason and replace Teixeira with him at first in 2017? The left-handed-hitting Davis, who can play the outfield, led the majors in homers (47) and strikeouts (208) last season.
Of course, signing Price doesn’t guarantee anything, especially with Clay Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Rick Porcello and Wade Miley behind him. Price was a combined 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA combined for the Tigers and Blue Jays. But he is 2-7 with a 5.12 ERA in 14 postseason games.
But the Red Sox have prospects that could land another top-of-the-rotation starter. Last season, the Boston starters’ 4.39 ERA was 13th among 15 AL rotations.