Diamondbacks Completed Greinke Deal In Less Than 12 Hours

On Friday, December 4th, Zack Greinke agreed to a record breaking contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Dave Stewart had only mentioned Greinke in passing when owner Ken Kendrick called and president Derrick Hall said: “Let’s go for it”. He reached agreement on a $206.5 million, six-year deal, sources told AP. “If the Dodgers wouldn”™t offer a six-year deal to Greinke, it”™s unlikely they will do so with Cueto, who experienced discomfort in his elbow this year. They had a 15-win improvement in 2015: They had 64 wins in 2014 and 79 wins previous year. That puts Greinke at an average annual value of $34.33 million, which is higher than any pitcher in the history of baseball.

But this is about winning the World Series, not winning the NL West. The Dodgers are worse off today than they were last season.

Greinke, 32, is coming off arguably the best year of his 12-year career. In 2015, he led the majors in ERA (1.66) and WHIP (0.84), while posting the best strikeout-walk ratio (5.0) of his career. He has spent much of his time trying to rid the major league roster of the previous regime’s mistakes, and restocking a barren farm system.

The signing will cost the Cubs their first pick in the 2016 draft, but it was worth the price as Lackey will start behind 2015 National League Cy Young Award victor Jake Arrieta and Lester in the Cubs’ rotation. Greinke was among the Dodger players who were particularly upset that the Dodgers’ front office appeared to punt the trading deadline by picking up fringe players like Mat Latos and Alex Wood to replace the injured Hyun Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy, while other contenders added Johnny Cueto, David Price, Cole Hamels. There is also the possibility the Dodgers could trade for a starter.

It’s natural to assume that he can’t continue to be the best pitcher in baseball for eight more years.

The D-backs beat out the division rival Dodgers and Giants to unexpectedly win the Greinke sweepstakes Friday night, acquiring the free agent ace they hope will get the franchise contending again — and fast.

“I know good things are going to happen to me in October”. What will the Dodgers do now to build around this once-in-a- generation talent before his window of dominance closes? Greinke and Clayton Kershaw combined for a 1.90 ERA. Then, the 32-year-old right-hander opted out of his contract, leaving $71.5 million on the table- and wound up with the richest deal, by yearly average, in baseball history. Barring catastrophic injury, Kershaw will nearly certainly opt out of his contract with the Dodgers at the end of the 2018 season. “The question gained a significant amount of gravity Friday, as the Dodgers received word that Zack Greinke wouldn’t return next season”.

If the Giants should strike out on all their top pitching targets, they are expected to turn toward the sizable free-agent market in left field, with Yoenis Cespedes and Ben Zobrist the most intriguing potential fits.

The Giants courted Greinke, but it’s not known if they offered a sixth year.

Greinke was something of an anomaly last season, a clear ace who was the No. 2 pitcher on his team. This one is going to hurt.