David Price thought as recently as Tuesday morning that he would sign a seven-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. He instead agreed to a seven-year, $217 million deal with the Boston Red Sox a few hours later.

The Red Sox made a final push for Price, even increasing an initial offer, as they also negotiated with Zack Greinke, according to a source.

Casey Close, the agent for Greinke, told Dave Dombrowski that he wanted an answer by Tuesday night on a proposal that had been made to the club. Dombrowski, hedging his bets, then went to Price's agent, Bo McKinnis, with another offer and a similar deadline.

St. Louis had offered Price the richest contract in team history, a seven-year deal worth at least $30 million less than what the left-hander received from Boston.