The Rays are going to want a corner outfielder, a first base bat, or a shortstop who is better than Escobar. We don't have any of those to spare right now. The Rays will still contend next year, so the idea of trading Price when they have him under team control through 2015 is kind of absurd.
He's coming off a $10.1MM contract and has 2 more years of arbitration. That's at least a $30MM commitment, maybe closer to $35MM. The Rays will not pay that. He's getting traded for either prospects, if they are satisfied with a top 3 of Moore-Cobb-Archer, or mix of prospects and MLB regulars to fill the holes in left and 1st. Whether the Nats could put together a mix that's right is another matter.
His situation is different from Shields in that (1)
shields was more affordable for an acquiring team ($10.25MM commitment in 2013 and a 2014 option at $13.5MM with a $1Mm buyout); the market for Shields was bigger because of the affordability; (3) there was the Wade Davis kicker; and (4) Dayton Moore.
Sure, getting Myers is kind of the equivalent of getting Profar or maybe Lindor, and clearly we don't have a prospect to match that. however, there are not a lot of MLB ready corner OF / 1B prospects among the top guys who are on teams that might be interested in Price. I don't see the Twins making the deal, nor Houston, Miami, or the Cubs, so that pretty much takes care of the top 20 or so prospects (OK, Bogaerts shows decent power, but they do not trade him in the division to rival). You get down to the Castellanos level, but that is another team that looks pretty set on its rotation. That why I would expect a Price trade to involve deep prospects with upside and some bandages to cover the roster holes.
I think Cole is thought of as more than a 4th starter talent, and Solis is well regarded as well.
