There may not be a more desperate franchise in terms of winning a championship in any professional sport than the Dodgers, and there road to claiming there 1st title in my lifetime (I’m 30 by the way) just got a little tougher. Starting pitcher David Price has informed the team that he will not be suiting up next season. David Price was part of the blockbuster trade that saw the Dodgers acquire both him and AL MVP Millie Betts. Price noted health as his biggest concern with the release of the following statement:
The Dodgers have been perennial favorites to win the World Series for at least the past few years and this year is no different. David Price is a former Cy Young caliber starting pitcher that could’ve provided some huge innings in the postseason. Not having him puts extra emphasis on guys like Walker Beuhler and Clayton Kershaw.
It’s also worth noting that Price and Betts are the only African American players on the Dodgers 25 man roster. With low representation of Black faces in general league-wide, this also causes a small step backwards by the league losing one its few Black stars.
Price is the first notable player from any of the major sports to opt-out of playing next season, but this move feels more like the beginning of a trend than a one-off oddity.
Flip the page to see what Price had to say and some of the Twitter reactions.