Zack Greinke Signs Record Six-Year $206M Deal With Diamondbacks

Greinke is about to average $34.42 million annually, shattering the previous average annual value record of $31 million held by Miguel Cabrera and David Price, and yet the shocking part was that the big bad infinite payroll Dodgers were outbid by the small market Diamondbacks. Earlier, pitcher Johnny Cueto turned down a $120 million offer from the Diamondbacks.

Instead, the Diamondbacks wound up with an even bigger prize.

The Arizona Diamondbacks decided that they were going to make a splash in the free agent market, and they did.

Greinke’s contract gave him the flexibility to find a new home.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom Greinke spent the last three seasons, and the San Francisco Giants, were widely regarded as the two likeliest destinations for Greinke up until recently. He exercised it and walked away from a whopping amount over the next three years.

That’s over now. After failing to re-sign Greinke, the Dodgers took the curious, and unusual step, of releasing a statement Friday night assuring fans that they had made the righty a strong offer and wished him and his family well. “We are now hard at work on our alternatives”. The Diamondbacks finished third in the NL West last season with a 79-32 record, but with a talented lineup that features first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and center fielder A.J. Pollock, Arizona is expected to be much-improved next season.

The Diamondbacks tried this season to clear salary.

So maybe, when we get to Nashville, Cueto will sign with the Phillies and Jason Heyward with the Brewers and we’ll find more reason to be surprised. The team did not say what kind of cancer he has. He also set the bar very high for the price of elite pitching.

The deal is still pending a physical, but if all goes according to plan, the National League West will look a little bit different in the wake of this signing.

Of course, Greinke also is coming off the best season of run prevention by any major league pitcher in two decades. During one stretch of the season, Greinke threw 45 2/3 scoreless innings.

He was durable, too, pitching 222 2-3 innings.

And at the last trading deadline, they added Alex Wood and Mat Latos, not exactly moves from a Dodgers-like team that prints money.

“Will the Dodgers miss the playoffs next year?” the Times asked.

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. 220 hitter. Since joining the Dodgers in 2013, Greinke has hit.

Last season, the Dodgers were 43-22 when Greinke and Kershaw pitched.

“I think I was just saving all my postseason wins for the Red Sox”, Price said on Friday during his introductory news conference in a Fenway Park function room filled with championship memorabilia.

A top priority of the Giants this offseason was to build up their rotation behind 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.