Shapiro: Blue Jays had too many needs to justify signing Price

Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro wasn't about to mortgage the future of the organization to pay one player.

With David Price taking his physical in Boston on Friday, Shapiro acknowledged that the team was not very aggressive in its pursuit of the left-hander, who landed a reported record-setting seven-year, $217-million deal with the Red Sox.

"For me with David Price, it's never a question do you want David Price. That's silly. Of course, yes, we want David Price. It's a question of how do you build a championship team within the parameters you're given," Shapiro told reporters.

"It's as simple as that. We have all the resources necessary to build a championship team, but they're not unlimited. It's a business like any other business. We had multiple holes to fill, and putting all those resources in one player really would have created a team with one complete hole in the rotation with nowhere to fill it. It really wasn’t much of a choice."

Despite Price's success in the three months spent in Toronto, the front office opted to spend $62 million on Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ, while trading for depth starter Jesse Chavez.

The Blue Jays return their entire starting lineup next season, but 2017 will be much more challenging for Shapiro. Cornerstone players Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista will be free agents, and potentially signing Price could have limited the team from keeping one, or both, down the road.

It was reported earlier this week that former GM Alex Anthopoulos began making plans to offer Price a contract in August, before eventually leaving the organization two months later.

The Red Sox are believed to have outbid the St. Louis Cardinals for Price's services by $37 million.