Free agent ace Zack Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks have reached agreement on a six-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Friday night.
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It clearly stunned the Dodgers as well because their president of baseball operations put out a statement on the departure, stating they made a “very strong offer”. That they bested the Dodgers and Giants for the 2015 Cy Young Award runner-up qualifies as one of the biggest free-agent upsets ever. The Cy Young candidate pitched a 1.66 ERA and 0.88 WHIP last season in his third year with the team.
After opting out of his contract with the Dodgers, hotshot starting pitcher Zack Greinke has found a new home – in Arizona, of all places. Greinke, at age 32, is a gamble, particularly for a team that still might have a ways to go before they can be considered a serious playoff threat.
He has a 2.16 ERA over his last six seasons, averaging 201 innings and 178 strikeouts per year with Hiroshima.
One reason why Arizona can afford to play in deeper financial waters is a new television deal that will pay the club at least $1.5 billion over 20 years. That he signed with the D-backs may have shocked everyone but chief baseball officer Tony La Russa, general manager Dave Stewart and president/CEO Derrick Hall.
Unlike Greinke, signing Leake wouldn’t require the Diamondbacks to part with a draft pick since he was traded by the Cincinnati Reds during the season. While they missed out on Greinke, that might not be a bad thing, considering the cost and length of term that they would have had to dole out.
The Dodgers had hoped Greinke and Kershaw, plus a roster that added up to the highest payroll in baseball, could lead them to their first World Series crown since 1988. The Dodgers gain a compensatory pick, likely No. 41.
Greinke will also be backed by a lineup that scored the second-most runs in the National League – only the altitude-aided Colorado Rockies scored more – and features All-Stars in their primes in first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and center fielder A.J. Pollock. He also had a scoreless streak of 45 2/3 innings.
But now the D-backs now have an ace to match up with the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner.
A top priority of the Giants this offseason was to build up their rotation behind 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.
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“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.
