The New York Yankees were reportedly interested in acquiring David Price before the 2014 MLB trade deadline, but general manager Brian Cashman said that the Tampa Bay Rays were unwilling to talk about a possible deal with them.
But in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Rays president Matt Silverman insisted that there were no restrictions during the process, saying that they were willing to talk to any team, including the Yankees, their American League East rival.
"We don't have a no-fly list," Silverman stressed. "We have 29 potential trading partners, and we have explored trades with each and every one of them."
Silverman's statement is contrary to the comment of Cashman, who said that the Rays along with the Boston Red Sox, who made Jon Lester available in trade talks, were unwilling to deal their pitchers to division rivals.
"The pitcher in Tampa, the pitcher in Boston, they were less willing to move them - if willing to move them at all - within the division, which I understand," Cashman said.
Hours before the deadline, the Rays eventually traded Price to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Nick Franklin, Willy Adames and Drew Smyly in a deal that also sent Austin Jackson to the Seattle Mariners.
Trading Price hurt the Rays' chances of making noise in the playoffs, but Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said that he has no regrets in trading Price, who is 11-8 this season with a 3.21 ERA and 205 strikeouts.
Sternberg pointed out that they had to make the hard decision to part ways with Price because the former CY Young Award winner is set to become a free agent, and is expected to ask for a lucrative deal Tampa Bay might not be available to give, running risk of losing the veteran pitcher for nothing.
"With David it wasn't three, four, five, eight guys and I think people got that and understood that we're still in it to win it," Sternberg said via USA Today. "It really was the classic one-eye-on-the-present, one-eye-on-the-future kind of deal."
Sternberg admitted, though, that things will become harder for them this season, but he is confident that Rays fans will understand why they had to part ways with the 28-year-old left hander.
