Free agent ace Zack Greinke and Arizona Diamondbacks reach 6-year deal

A person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press that free agent Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks have reached agreement on a six-year contract. Crasnick reports that there is no opt-out in the deal for Greinke and Ken Rosenthal called the deal a major “surprise” after the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were reported to be the favorites to land the 32-year-old pitcher.

Greinke’s contract would average $34.4 million per year, surpassing the seven-year, $217 million deal ($31 million average per year) that David Price signed this week with the Boston Red Sox.

He has a 2.16 ERA over his last six seasons, averaging 201 innings and 178 strikeouts per year with Hiroshima.

The Dodgers pushed well beyond their financial comfort zone – not because they could not afford the money, but because history shows few investments tend to be greater follies than guaranteed money to a pitcher in his late 30s. There is something of a joking acknowledgment in the game that the Giants contend – and, in fact, win it all – only every two years, so the 2016 season is their next and best chance. Randy Johnson’s four-year, $52 million free agent sign in 1999 was a franchise record.

At the moment, the Dodgers’ rotation consists of the consensus No. 1 pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, and a series of question marks.

There is a new contender in the NL West. Zack Greinke will see to that. In the Jetstream of those deals came Greinke, and what was believed to be a contest of wills (and dollars) between the Dodgers, the wealthiest franchise in the sport, and the Giants, three-time World Series champion this decade.

Greinke is coming off a season in which he pitched to an MLB-leading 1.66 ERA in 222 2/3 innings for the Dodgers. He exercised it and walked away from a whopping amount over the next three years. Turner, 24, (Westminster), spent most of last season on the Chicago Cubs’ disabled list (elbow).

Greinke, who turned 32 in October, who will become the highest paid player in baseball. But as President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman heads to Nashville, he and his crew are far more interesting than had they signed their own guy.

Fox first reported the deal, and said it was worth $206 million.

The Diamondbacks have added an elite starting pitcher, a bona fide staff ace, to lead an otherwise young (and inexpensive) rotation that includes Patrick Corbin, Robbie Ray, Chase Anderson and Rubby De La Rosa.

More than ever, the pressure shifts to Friedman and Zaidi.

Enter Greinke, who was by some measures the best pitcher in the major leagues in 2015 and is nonetheless one of the game’s true aces.

No one – not the fans, certainly not opposing teams – appeared to take the Dodgers at their word when they kept insisting they would develop a sustainable franchise.