Zack Greinke To Sign Six-Year, $206M Deal With Diamondbacks

Zack Greinke finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting as a member of the Dodgers in 2015. With this one move, how much closer are they now?

Shortly thereafter, news broke that Greinke had come to an agreement with the Diamondbacks for an insane $206 million. The 32-year-old Greinke helped the Dodgers win their third straight division title this season, then opted out of his contract to become a free agent. Sources confirmed that Geinke signed a six-year deal worth more than $200 million with the Diamondbacks. According to ESPN and media reports, Greinke has agreed to a deal with an annual value of $34.3 million, which is the most ever for a pitcher in baseball history. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity since the signing has not still been finalized.

Fox first reported an agreement.

Greinke was the second former AL Cy Young victor to get a rich contract this week.

Greinke, 32, was arguably the best free agent starter on the market this offseason and inarguably the best once David Price agreed to a seven-year contract with the Red Sox. The deal includes $60 million in deferred money that will be paid out in the five years following the contract. Now, the Dodgers will have to venture into the free agent market and there are still quality starting pitchers available, including Johnny Cueto, Hisashi Iwakuma, Mike Leake, Jeff Samardzija, Scott Kazmir or Yovani Gallardo.

Leake, 28, is still of interest to the Diamondbacks even after signing Greinke, according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com.

Greinke’s contract gave him the flexibility to find a new home. He exercised it and walked away from a whopping amount over the next three years. “We are now hard at work on our alternatives”.

The Diamondbacks tried this season to clear salary.

The only other healthy pitcher who has a place in the rotation locked down is Alex Wood, who was acquired in a midseason trade with the Atlanta Braves. The team did not say what kind of cancer he has.

“I know good things are going to happen to me in October”.

The Dodgers ultimately were outbid by about $50 million, by a team they did not suspect was deep into the bidding until Friday. After revealing futuristic uniforms for 2016 a day earlier, Arizona found its new big star to wear one. Greinke and Clayton Kershaw combined for a 1.90 ERA. The club believes in Robbie Ray (3.52 ERA in 127 2/3 innings), but it needed an alpha male.

Greinke was durable, pitching 222⅔ innings.

Beyond that, the Dodgers are counting on the return of Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is recovering from a shoulder operation. They had a 15-win improvement in 2015: They had 64 wins in 2014 and 79 wins previous year. The Dodgers also gained a compensatory selection between the first and second rounds of the draft next year.

Dodgers minority owner Magic Johnson was aware Greinke would be expensive, but said Tuesday that re-signing him was a priority. They have Madison Bumgarner, but after that, the rotation has Jake Peavy, Matt Cain, Chris Heston and prospects.