David Price didn't always get along with the Boston media during his Red Sox tenure.
If you ask two outside observers, that's not necessarily Price's fault.
New York Mets starter Marcus Stroman, who was Price's teammate and close friend on the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, took a swipe at Boston reporters while defending the new Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander.
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"I’m so excited that David is out of that market because people were trying to question his character,’’ Stroman told USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale.
"If you ask anybody that ever met or anyone who’s ever been around David, character has never been an issue. He’s the best teammate I ever had. He continues to be one of the best mentors in my life. It’s comical to me when I read things questioning his character. He’s a role model to every single guy who comes into that clubhouse."
Dennis Eckersley might disagree; Price famously confronted Eckersley on the Red Sox' team plane in 2017 over negative comments the NESN analyst made about Eduardo Rodriguez, then resurfaced the feud two years later.
Stroman's criticism isn't surprising considering his own spats with local media. But Price's new Dodgers teammate, third baseman Justin Turner, agrees with Stroman that Price wasn't to blame for tensions with Boston reporters.
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"I think he got a bad rep from the media in Boston," Turner told Nightengale of Price. "I’ve had a lot of teammates here that come from Boston and told me how tough it is over there to deal with. But everyone I talked to, everyone who knows David, loves him to death."
Boston has one of the most passionate fanbases in baseball, and more passion means more scrutiny, which some players find exhausting to deal with.
That appears to be the case with Price, who told Nightengale he "couldn't be happier" that he's moving to laid-back Los Angeles after years of battling with reporters in Boston.
"You watch what he does now going that he’s out of Boston," Stroman added of Price.