All that, plus he has dominated the NL West. Greinke was 7-2 against the division past year and 29-7 in his three seasons with the Dodgers.
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Marlins hire Bonds as hitting coach • If Barry Bonds thinks a full-time return to baseball will help his Hall of Fame chances, he could be disappointed. The media-shy, steroids-tainted home run king made a rare conference call Friday to discuss his hiring, which raised his profile just as balloting is under way for 2016 Hall of Fame voting.
The 51-year-old Bonds ended his playing career in 2007 and has worked in recent years as a guest instructor for the San Francisco Giants in spring training. 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.
Arizona lowered the supply by adding Greinke and heightened the demand for talent around the National League by announcing to the world that this winter would be about more than snakeskin patterns on new uniforms.
What I don’t like about Greinke’s contract is the price and his age. That conviction was overturned on appeal last April, and prosecutors dropped the charge this past summer.
Verdict: It comes as something of a surprise that Arizona, a team with a payroll under -million at the start of 2015, would outbid the teams with baseball’s biggest payrolls, but that’s precisely why this works for the Diamondbacks. Because of his high profile, Bonds may be more of a flashpoint.
ESPN is reporting that the deal is worth a total of $206 million, while Jon Heyman at CBS Sports reports that there is $60 million in deferred money, making the value around $190 million.
The deal is the richest ever for a pitcher.
It’s natural to assume that he can’t continue to be the best pitcher in baseball for eight more years. “They have winning in their past”.
The sides agreed to the terms of the deal on Tuesday, but had to wait for Price to pass his physical.
Greinke’s contract gave him the flexibility to find a new home.
“This is an exciting time”, owner John Henry said. Through all that they have Clayton Kershaw, this era’s best pitcher, as a backbone.
Among the young pitchers, Julio Urias, Jose DeLeon and Jharel Cotton all could arrive sometime next season. The Diamondbacks rotation posted a 4.37 ERA (23rd), 701 strikeouts (23rd), and 5.1 IP per start (29th).
The Islanders improved to 10-2-1 against Western Conference teams this season and are 5-0-1 in their last six games. I believe it’s pretty safe to say that this move will solidify a shaky Diamondbacks rotation.
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FOX reported that the D-backs met with free agent Mike Leake on Thursday, and Leake, who played at Arizona State, told Fanragsports.com in September that he would strongly consider the D-backs.
