MLB Trade Deadline: Latest News Surrounding David Price

During last night's Boston-Detroit game, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski was shown on TV numerous times. With Major League Baseball's July 31 trade deadline quickly approaching, you can't blame the cameras for following every move of the Tigers general manager.

Both the short- and long-term future of a few MLB clubs will be decided this week. David Price, Dombrowski's hot commodity, is at the center of it all.

Price, a former Cy Young winner, is 9-3 with a 2.31 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 2015—making him one of the most coveted starting pitchers at a time when contenders become buyers and pretenders become sellers.

Dombrowski and the rest of Detroit's front office have only a few days to determine where they fit in before choosing to keep or deal their left-handed ace.

The decision has baseball reporters taking to Twitter to make sense of the situation.

According to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, the Tigers remain confident they can contend this season.

ESPN's Buster Olney made a case for the Tigers to keep Price.

If that's the case, keeping Price could make Detroit buyers at the trade deadline, says Olney.

With a 48-50 record and just a 19 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to Baseball Prospectus, Detroit might already be out of contention, though.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports laid out the frank reality of the Tigers' season:

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They’re two games under .500 and four back of the wild card with three teams ahead of them. Right behind them are Texas (half a game back), Chicago (one game back) and Seattle and Cleveland (2½ games back). Couple that with their current stretch in which they’re on the road 17 of 23 games, plus Miguel Cabrera expected to miss another three weeks, not to mention a farm system in desperate need of an infusion, and the Tigers become fairly obvious sellers.

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Fox Sports' Jon Morosi pointed out the significance of Detroit's poor first half.

According to a report by USA Today's Bob Nightengale on July 21, the Tigers intend to put Price, a free agent after the season, on the trade market.

If Dombrowski's comments are any indication, though, intention and actually putting him on the market are two different things.

Price's agent, Bo McKinnis, went on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio Sunday morning and sounded less than optimistic about Price staying a Tiger.

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"When we got eight days from the Deadline [that would be last Thursday], I had some folks that asked me my thoughts," McKinnis said. "Then, I said I feel like if they were to go 5-3 in those eight, that [Tigers president/GM Dave] Dombrowski would hang onto him [past the Trade Deadline]. This team, he's got a lot invested in it. It's a solid club and hopefully [Miguel] Cabrera comes back here soon.

"Well, since I made that comment of them needing to go 5-3, they've actually gone 2-2 ... so it's kind of hard to say I'm optimistic about us staying. Yet I have no doubt that Dave's going to drag it to Thursday or Friday. If I was in his shoes, that's what I would do, because this team was set up to win, and it's just kind of hard to throw in the towel."

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Morosi reports a few teams are interested in Price if he is available.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, in desperate need of a starting pitcher, appear to have a large interest in Price—especially now that Johnny Cueto is off the table.

Some of the teams high on Price are also in the market for the Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Where Hamels lands could determine Price's future and vice versa.

But who really knows what the Phillies front office has up its sleeve?

Price also threw his own opinions into the mix on Monday.

With Friday's non-waiver trade deadline fast approaching, we're sure to get a definitive answer on Price's short-term future in the coming days.

For the former 20-game winner, this is deja vu all over again—Price was traded to Detroit last July after seven-plus years in Tampa Bay.

The Tigers, if they do try to contend for the playoffs this year, may need the five-time All-Star more than any other franchise right now.

Outside of Price, no current Detroit starter has an ERA under 4.46, including the struggling Justin Verlander. In addition, the Tigers lost 2013 Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to free agency in the offseason.

It's not an ideal scenario for a team just a year removed from having the best starting rotation in the league.

Ironically, teams want Price to bolster their pitching staff heading into October despite his less-than-stellar postseason numbers. In 10 playoff appearances, five of them starts, he's 1-5 with a 4.50 ERA.

Yet Price still remains a hot item on the trade market this week—no matter his postseason struggles or what his GM says.