Though it took longer than anticipated, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ blockbuster trade for Mookie Betts and David Price became official this week.
The club sent Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong to the Boston Red Sox in the revised deal. Pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol, who was initially expected to be traded to Boston, instead was sent to L.A. after being acquired from the Minnesota Twins for Kenta Maeda.
The Dodgers formally introduced Betts and Price in a press conference on Wednesday, to which the former American League MVP and Cy Young Award winners took questions from the media.
Price provided an update on his recovery from wrist surgery while also revealing he is open to anything the Dodgers have in mind for him this season. “I’ll do whatever these guys ask me to do,” Price said, before stopping himself.
“Anything but catcher; that is one thing I will not do,” he added with a laugh.
“Health-wise, I feel really good. Getting some stuff done to my wrist, I can tell a big difference in day-to-day activities. Using this offseason to get back to full health — this is the longest offseason I’ve had since I’ve been in the big leagues.
“For that to come at this time, to use that to get back healthy, everything feels really good right now.”
Price, who was limited to just six appearances during the second half of the 2019 season, underwent wrist surgery at the end of September. He wound up logging the second-fewest starts (22) and innings pitched (107.1) since his first full season in 2009, posting a 7-5 record with a 4.28 ERA and 128 strikeouts.
Price went into further detail about the wrist procedure he had. “We cut some extra growth out that I had in my main canal,” he explained. “It would get inflamed and it would swell up and just kind of cut everything off to my hand. It’s why my hand would get cold and I would lose feeling in it.
“Ever since I had the surgery I would go to rehab Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, with our trainers in Boston. They could instantly tell how much warmer my hand was and the feeling in my hand overall was a lot better. I’m looking forward to getting out there and testing it with a baseball.”
Price noted that his wrist issues first came about during his time with the Tampa Bay Rays. “It’s something I kind of dealt with for a while,” he said.
“Back in my Tampa days, it’s something that I dealt with. The way I was explained it was kind of just like gravel. It was something we would just kind of try and scrape out and use different tools to kind of smooth it out and it just kind of accumulated to be so much.
“And the best thing was to go in there and cut it out and get it over with. You barely can see the scar, Dr. Leeman did a great job in Boston and I’m very thankful for him.”
Finally healthy again, Price spoke on how frustrating it was to be sidelined for a long period of time. “People that know me will tell you I’m not suited well for the DL just because I’ll get stir crazy and it’s tough,” he said.
“So for me, I want to be out there on the field. I want to be out there competing. I want to be just with all of the guys in the dugout, the clubhouse.
“To me, being at the baseball field is where I can kind of just step back and a sigh of relief and just step back away from being a father for a minute and being a husband and just be a teammate and friend for all of these guys.”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in our live shows, and more!
