Zack Greinke will stay in the NL West. But surprise – with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Despite Greinke’s historic finish, he ended up second in NL Cy Young Award voting behind Chicago’s Jake Arrieta.
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Greinke posted a 1.66 earned-run average that was the lowest in baseball in 20 years.
Maeda in the a year ago added a changeup to his repertoire, which Ben Badler of Baseball America notes is a pitch that could make Maeda “more comfortably profile as a No. 3 starter” immediately. He also had a scoreless streak of 45 2/3 innings.
The major league ERA leader chose Arizona over the NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
In three seasons with the Dodgers, he was 51-15 with a 2.30 ERA and served as the right-handed complement to Kershaw, the consensus No. 1 pitcher in baseball.
The contract is technically the second major deal in the past three years for Greinke, who in early November opted out of his final three seasons (and the last $71 million) with the Dodgers. Last year, the Diamondbacks opened the season with a payroll just short of $92 million.
In December 2012, Greinke signed a $147 million, six-year deal with the Dodgers that included an opt-out clause. Fox Sports first reported an agreement.
The Dodgers: Los Angeles, in a weird way, had to get this deal done.
UPDATE (6:05 p.m. PT): Greinke’s deal with the Diamondbacks is for six years, $206 million, according to multiple reports.
It seemed the Dodgers’ chances of retaining Greinke were enhanced when Price, the consensus top free agent, reached agreement with Boston. However, the anticipation was that he would be paid more per season.
“I think just what him and Clayton have meant to our club over the last three years is just that one-two punch”. The Diamondbacks’ starting pitching was below average in 2015, and ultimately undermined one of the better offenses in the league.
Injury-prone Brett Anderson made a career-high 31 starts this year, but his innings count more than quadrupled from the previous season, raising concerns about his durability for the upcoming season. The Dodgers have a television contract worth $8.35 billion, even if many fans still can not see SportsNet LA.
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Beyond that, the Dodgers are counting on the return of Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is recovering from a shoulder operation. On the year he put up a 3.44 ERA and 3.53 ERA in 32 starts between the Reds and Royals, with 176 strikeouts and 46 walks in 212 innings.
