Surprise! Greinke leaves Dodgers, headed to Diamondbacks

The Dodgers lost out on Zack Greinke, who cashed in on a massive six-year contract with the Diamondbacks worth a reported $206.5 million, give or take $15 or $20 million depending on the details of the deferred money. The $34.4 million average will be the sport’s highest, topping David Price’s $31 million per year deal with the Red Sox. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the signing has not yet been finalized. But Arizona apparently went far beyond the Dodgers’ comfort zone to make the most significant free agent splash in franchise history.

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

Greinke was 19-3 with a league-best 1.66 ERA last season. He is now in a market where anything short of a World Series championship is considered a failure, and losing Greinke to a division rival won’t get the Dodgers any closer to an October parade. 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.

The Diamondbacks’ aggressiveness isn’t surprising after they reportedly offered free agent Johnny Cueto a six-year, 0 million contract earlier in the week. The D-Backs signed a new and very lucrative television contract not too long ago, which surely helped land Greinke.

It’s a big, risky play on a 32-year-old pitcher for the Diamondbacks, who do have a talented young group of players, and are now relevant again in the NL West, and also are gambling future seasons on Greinke’s production and health. The Diamondbacks finished 13 games behind the Dodgers and five behind the Giants last season.

The Dodgers as it stands hold the 24th, 30th and 36th picks of the 2016 draft (this will change often throughout the season with various signings), and would prefer not to surrender their first-round pick in signing a free agent if they can avoid it.

Greinke is coming off the best season of his career.

A top priority of the Giants this off-season was to build up their rotation behind 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. The club believes in Robbie Ray (3.52 ERA in 127 2/3 innings), but it needed an alpha male.

In October, the Dodgers parted ways with now-Marlins manager Don Mattingly and just hired former major leaguer Dave Roberts as his replacement.