Major League Baseball Notes: Zack Greinke opts out of deal, becomes free agent

After all, in his last free agency, Greinke admitted that money is “obviously the No. 1 thing”.

A New York state judge has thrown out an arbitration decision that said the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is controlled by the Orioles, owes the Nationals about $298 million for the team’s 2012-16 broadcast rights.

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres have exercised a $7.5 million club option on the contract for right-hander Joaquin Benoit for the 2016 season and declined their $2 million option on infielder Clint Barmes.

Greinke, who might win the National League Cy Young award, is 32.

He was due to be paid $24m (£15.6m) next season and in 2018, and $23m (£14.95m) in 2017 but can expect a raise on those numbers in any new contract, either with the Dodgers or one of their competitors if a bidding war begins. The Los Angeles Dodgers seem to be the early front-runners to re-acquire their ace, but it remains to be seen how much Greinke might earn with a few teams reportedly scared off by his age (he turned 32 in October).

Qualls, who played for seven other teams between stints with the Astros, had a 3.33 ERA and 19 saves in 58 appearances for Houston in 2014. However, all signs (for now) point to Greinke remaining in Los Angeles. Brandon McCarthy is expected to be sidelined until the middle of the upcoming season as he works his way back from reconstructive elbow surgery. If Greinke turns down the proposal and signs elsewhere, the Dodgers would receive a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds of the draft next year. If the Giants want him, they nearly certainly would have to pay him a team-record contract for a pitcher.

The next step for the Dodgers will be more of a formality than anything; they have until Friday to make Greinke a qualifying offer. No one would bat an eye if you suggested Greinke was more valuable than Price or Cueto.

In short, Greinke’s value to the Dodgers far outweighed the actual salary paid him.