THE Boston Red Sox in the U.S. Major Baseball have agreed to a record 7-year, US$217 million contract with left-handed pitcher David Price, one of the top starting pitchers available in the free agent market, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

    Price went 18-5 with a 2.45 earned run average in 32 starts for the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays last season.

    The 30-year-old, who won the Cy Young Award as the top pitcher in the American League in 2012 with the Tampa Bay Rays, is 104-56 over eight seasons and has been named to five All-Star teams.

    The deal would be the largest ever for a pitcher, narrowly topping Clayton Kershaw’s US$215 million extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014.

    Price was considered the top pitching target this offseason along with Zack Greinke, who spent last season with the Dodgers.

    It has been a hectic couple of seasons for Price. He was dealt by the Tampa Bay Rays to the Tigers at the 2014 trade deadline and spent one calendar year with Detroit, going 13-8 with a 2.90 earned run average (ERA) before the club fell out of contention and sent him to Toronto for three prospects at last season’s deadline.

    The hard-throwing lefty went on to play a big role in propelling the Blue Jays to their first playoff berth since 1993. Price was 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 11 starts as Toronto charged to the AL East title.

    Former Detroit president and general manager Dave Dombrowski was fired five days after making that trade and has since joined Boston as its president of baseball operations.

    The signing is the second major move this offseason by Boston to bolster a pitching staff rotation that combined for a 4.39 ERA last season, third-highest in the AL.

    Last month, the Red Sox traded four prospects to the San Diego Padres for closer Craig Kimbrel.(SD-Agencies)