Earlier today the Boston Red Sox made the first major splash of this winter’s free agency, inking Toronto ace David Price to a 7 year, $217 million deal. It beats the previous record contract signed by Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers last year by $2 million, making Price the highest paid pitcher of all time.

But not only did this monster deal break a league record, it smashed a club record for the largest contract ever given to a pitcher. The previous holder of that distinction? Teammate Rick Porcello, who agreed to a 4 year, $82.5 million deal earlier this year. This stood out to me, as the Red Sox have never been shy in their spending, perennially among the highest total payrolls in the league. Also $100 million contracts aren’t particularly uncommon when it comes to netting a great, or even just good, pitcher. So it surprised me to see that the Sox had never broken the century mark in their pursuit of a starter.

One caveat is that in 2006 the Red Sox did spend a total of $103.5 million to acquire Japanese starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, however $51.1 million of that was spent on acquiring his exclusive negotiation rights from his Japanese club, the Seibu Lions.

But what about 2015 dollars? After all, Pedro Martinez signed his deal 17 years ago, how does his deal compare when accounting for inflation? Though his contract does break the $100 million line, pushing the adjusted value past that of Porcello and John Lackey, it still doesn’t break the total spent on the acquisition of Matsuzaka.

With Price’s deal totaling almost double that of the next highest even when considering inflation, it’s clear that it is far and away the biggest single investment the franchise has ever made in it’s pitching staff. Whether it’s return will prove worthy will be determined by Price’s performance on the mound in 2016 and beyond.