Pitcher Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks agree to record free-agent deal

The right-hander who was runner-up in the 2015 National League Cy Young award voting, has agreed to a six year deal, pending a physical, reports Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

And it’s a franchise-altering gamble for Diamondbacks president Tony La Russa and general manager Dave Stewart, considering that long-term contracts for pitchers often lead to dead money at the end, and Greinke is 32 years old even before putting ink to paper.

Greinke, 32, opted out of his six-year, $147 million deal with the Dodgers after three seasons.

“Boston was special to me, both good and bad, throughout my career”, the 30-year-old left-hander said of his sometimes contentious relationship with the Red Sox and their fans.

But when with the on Tuesday for what was a record seven-year, $217-million deal, the financial parameters for Greinke were set, despite the left-hander being two years younger than Greinke. The deal is worth $195 million according to USA Today’s bob Nightengale. Anderson was 10-9 with a 3.69 ERA, but his innings more than quadrupled from the previous year, which raises questions about his durability for the upcoming season.

Out of the playoffs since 2011, the Diamondbacks emerged as the surprise victor in the Greinke sweepstakes.

The average annual value of the deal is $34.33 million dollars, the highest in the history of baseball.

The Diamondbacks had tried to sign Johnny Cueto, having a six-year, $120 million offer rejected. Even their two best players – 1B Paul Goldschmidt and CF A.J. Pollock – are veritable bargains, so if the Diamondbacks think that paying for an ace starter will give them a legitimate chance to compete in the National League West then, as insane as it might be to pay more than a million dollars per start for a starting pitcher, it’s not an unreasonable investment. Greinke had a scoreless streak of 45⅔ innings this summer.

In 2015, the D-Backs went 79-83 and finished 13 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. Those 79 wins represented a 15-win improvement from 2014. A Gold Glove victor who also likes to hit, the right-hander teamed with left-hander Clayton Kershaw to give the Dodgers a formidable 1-2 combination at the top of the rotation.

The Dodgers and Giants lost out to their division rival. Chicago also agreed on a one-year, $1.5 million contract with righthanded pitcher Jacob Turner.

Because the Dodgers made Greinke a qualifying offer, the D-Backs will forfeit their first round pick (13th overall) to sign the right-hander. The Dodgers, as compensation for losing Greinke, will receive a draft pick between the first and second rounds.

But will Kershaw still be dominant when Los Angeles retools?

Someone is likely to get seriously overpaid, with the Dodgers unable to let any more quality pitching slip through their mittens.

Greinke was something of an anomaly last season, a clear ace who was the No. 2 pitcher on his team.