Rick Porcello signed a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension with the Boston Red Sox earlier this month, removing him from what should be a deep market for pitchers this coming offseason.
Porcello would have gone up against numerous starters including Jordan Zimmermann, David Price, Johnny Cueto, Doug Fister and potentially Zack Greinke.
"I don't think it factors in that much in regards to my situation because I'm a lot younger than those guys," Porcello noted. "I felt like whatever career numbers they have, I feel confident that I'm going to have a good year this year and if I did that I would have no problem putting myself up against those guys.
"I didn't look at the class and say, 'Oh my God, there's a ton of guys out there. I don't want to compete with that many guys.' That wasn't the case. It really just came down to wanting to be here with a team I know wants to win. Going through the whole spring, seeing it first-hand, knowing what I have here and not knowing what else is out there, that was important to me. I don't want to play on a team that doesn't have a chance to win. You see a lot of guys who go to the highest bidder and the next thing you know a year or two down the road they want out. I don't want to end up in that situation. To me, having a chance to win is the most important thing."
