Blue Jays: Was the David Price rumour a leverage smoke screen?

Did the Toronto Blue Jays use the David Price rumour as negotiating leverage to sign Hyun-Jin Ryu or do they have a legitimate interest in a reunion with the pitcher?

On December 21st, MLB Network analyst Jon Heyman tweeted that the Toronto Blue Jays had made competitive offers to both Hyun-Jin Ryu and Edwin Encarnacion. No information in regards to the terms of the proposed deals was leaked.

On December 22nd, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic authored an article for the website that the Blue Jays were in trade talks with the Boston Red Sox for David Price as the team attempted to upgrade their pitching.

Then low and behold just before midnight on the 22nd of December, news broke that the Blue Jays had tentatively reached a four-year/ $80 million dollar agreement with Ryu. So was Ross Atkins just doing his due diligence and casting a wide net on the off chance that Ryu balked at their offer and signed elsewhere?

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Did the Jays have a legitimate interest in a reunion tour with Price or was the alleged trade talks a proverbial red herring in an attempt to push Scott Boras and his client to make a decision sooner than later?

Was Atkins signaling that he was prepared to go in another direction if they were going to string them along while they waited for the Angels and Dodgers to up the anti? You have to figure there was definitely a cat and mouse aspect to the negotiating with Boras involved.

Who knows, maybe the Jays will still land Price, however, the timing of the rumours seem peculiar. Did the brain trust specifically leak the rumour to the much-respected Rosenthal because it adds legitimacy?

Regardless of my late-night conspiracy theories, good on Atkins and company for playing the game and landing their intended target all the while navigating the waters opposite Boras.

What are your thoughts, is Price still in play, was he “Option B” or did the Jays play the player?