Would a three team trade between Tampa, Arizona and the Rangers make sense for the Rangers to net David Price? Starting with Andrus to Arizona, Upton to Tampa, Price to the Rangers and the Rangers also send Olt and Moreland or Holland to Tampa. Does that sound reasonable or is this way off base?

Generally 3 team deals are rare in the MLB, but your close value wise.
Given that Tampa actually feels that Andrus is an appropriate centerpiece for their Cy Young Winner, you would likely have to send say Moreland, Perez, Gentry and maybe even Grimm to go along with Andrus.
That being said this would be the best move for the Texas Rangers moving forward (even better than the Stanton pipe dreams floating around). Of course they would need to acquire a first baseman like Laroche or resign Napoli, both will end up being fairly equally compensated although I'd prefer Laroche because we need left-handers and putting two gold gloves at each corner along with the best prospect in the game and one of the top 2nd basemen in the league is an attractive opportunity. In addition to the catcher/1B dilemma we'd have to contend with a thin outfield and bullpen, but bringing in Melky for a year and resigning Koji could quickly remedy that. A Price, Darvish, Harrison, Holland, Ogando rotation is as good as any in the majors.

Interesting logic, and I don't think you're off base, per se. I just believe if any of these trades were to facilitate none of the teams would need to rely on a 3rd to be the middle man.

You're basically dealing with 3 teams each giving up 5.0 WAR talents. All of Price, Upton and Andrus can conceivably come up with 4-6 WAR over the next 2 years, and when Andrus's contract expires, I assume that's where the inclusion of Olt/Moreland/Holland comes into play.

Being that Arizona is the team that only gets two years worth of Andrus, while Tampa and Texas each get three years worth of their respective players, I think they need to be compensated in some way. That's the only fault I see in the scenario.

Otherwise, pretty interesting.

@eric

You think Andrus isn't enough to get them to let go of Upton? The discussion from virtually everything I've read nationally is that it's quite the opposite. not to mention this article: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/upton-for-andrus-who-wins/

I'm happy to see you are well-read on national articles, but the devil is in reality, and I believe most GM's would view a straight up Andrus-for-Upton trade as a royal burglary in favor of the Rangers. If major sports have taught me anything, it's to not believe anything until something actually happens.

I've been pressing on the Andrus + for Upton train as long as anyone on here, and I remain steadfast in my belief that it's going to take more than just Elvis Andrus to acquire such a top-shelf talent. Anything to the contrary from Texas's perspective is merely posturing at this point, and I don't imagine a trade to go down until the beginning of December at the earliest.

As I usually conclude on these topics, I don't know if I'm right or wrong, only time will tell. But it really doesn't make sense for the Rangers to say they are open to trading the last two years of Elvis's contract this early on in the offseason, because they don't want his value to diminish.

Andrus would be the best piece in the trade and I would send no more anywhere. Perhaps Arizona should add a little to Tampa but not the Rangers. Andrus is a young proven player with perhaps 15 years left, Upton a might get there troubled player being dumped by a team giving up on him, and a pitcher 6 years older that is at best an equal to Andrus. The key to this trade is Arizona dumping an under achieving attitude plagued player that is paid for his big potential but fails deliver. JMO

Price is 3 years older, not 6, with an extra year of control.

Price has the same FWAR the last 3 seasons that Elvis does the last 4.

Upton being troubled is just speculation by fans. There's nothing to it.

I love Elvis as much as anyone, but some people overvalue him on this site (imo, obviously).

@Eric
When just about every single major national media figure says they have sources that say either Elvis or Profar for Upton will get it done....I'll choose to believe the writing on the wall over anything you say. I would suggest you take the same approach, bc you sound like a jerk when you say things like being "well-read on national articles"... or just don't provide a backhanded slap of a comment.

Upton comes with a little more risk (will he be an all-star or won't he?), a little higher ceiling (I don't see Elvis providing 6 WAR), another year of control, and substantially more $ owed to him. Given all those things, I wouldn't give up more than Elvis unless we got something more than Upton from them. But that's just my opinion.

Trade J-Pro and Holland for Price. Next sign Greinke. Rotation is Darvish, Price, Greinke, Harrison and Ogando. At mid-season Lewis replaces Ogando who goes to the bullpen.

That's not happening. Holland will cost more than they want to spend for a #3/possible #2 over the next 5 years. The Rays churn out pitchers about like Oakland; there's no reason they should spend that much on Holland. We'd have to kick in a pretty good chunk of change.

Not only would the Rays not want Holland's contract, but I seriously doubt that the Rangers would trade 6 years of Profar for the 3 arbitration years of Price, especially when Elvis is either walking or signing a $100M+ contract in 2 years. I think TB would jump all over that one if you threw in a 2nd tier prospect instead of Holland- 6 years of the #1 Prospect in baseball (probably 7 if they wait a month into the season) for the 3 most expensive/controllable years of the former #1 prospect in baseball. That is just the type of deal that Tampa always looks to do. My guess is that JD means it when he says Profar is untouchable, and I am glad that I do not have to worry about J-Pro being traded.

OK, J-Pro & Harrison for Price, or J-Pro, Olt and Martin Perez for Price, or J-Pro, Moreland, and Perez for Price. And still sign Greinke.

One last thing... people need to leave Eric alone. Yes, he can be a little abrasive sometimes, but from what I see, he gets called a lot worse than what he dishes out. Another observation is that he usually knows a lot more than the people dogging him. Just my 2 cents. Back to baseball.

J-Pro is not going to be involved in any trades for D-Price. Take that to the bank. If you want Price, structure a deal around Andrus, SS prospect of their choice not named Profar (probably Sardinas) for when Elvis bounces, then give them a choice of Olt/Perez, then another choice of Odor, Buckel, or other 2nd/3rd tier prospect not named Alfaro. If that doesn't get it done I'm not sure that I want to make the trade.

They wouldnt need a SS prospect past Elvis as they have that Yu Suk guy, or whatever his name is. Still think this is a pipedream, dont see Price coming texas way, sure want to be wrong though