Following the Red Sox’ signing of David Price, the Diamondbacks made the next-biggest splash on the free agent market by nabbing former Dodger Zack Greinke.
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A source confirmed the agreement, which is valued between $32 million and $34 million, according to a tweet by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.Greinke’s ultimate landing place was a surprise, but the Dodgers’ reluctance to offer him a six-year contract wasn’t.Greinke posted a 1.66 earned-run average that was the lowest in baseball in 20 years. The Dodgers also receive a compensation-round pick and will have three picks among the top 50 next June.
Zack Grienke will sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks, according to multiple reports.
Arizona might not be done either.
At the moment, the Dodgers’ rotation consists of the consensus No. 1 pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, and a series of question marks.
Arizona surprisingly joined the Greinke sweepstakes late in the process and were able to land him on a six-year mega-deal, as written here.
Instead, along came the Diamondbacks, Corbin’s continued return from Tommy John surgery, Paul Goldschmidt’s near-MVP talent, A.J. Pollock’s breakout 2015, and now an ace in Greinke, all now a challenge to the Dodgers and Giants. Kershaw and Greinke were the backbone of the Dodgers’ last three NL West championship teams, though the club won just one playoff series in that span. The deal includes $60 million in deferred money that will be paid out in the five years following the contract. He exercised it and walked away from a whopping amount over the next three years.
Cueto isn’t alone on the starting pitcher market. The Diamondbacks were 79-83 and finished third in the NL West. Greinke had a scoreless streak of 45 2-3 innings this summer.
The Diamondbacks were second in the NL in runs scored this past season, behind only the altitude-assisted Rockies, and the oldest of their projected regulars for 2016 is catcher Welington Castillo, who turns 29 in April.
Enter Greinke, who was by some measures the best pitcher in the major leagues in 2015 and is nonetheless one of the game’s true aces.
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Adding Leake to a rotation that features Greinke and Patrick Corbon would make a ton of sense for the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers also gained a compensatory selection between the first and second rounds of the draft next year.
