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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The Dodgers have been in rebuilding mode ever since president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman took over the club’s front office a year ago.
The other is Johnny Cueto, who reportedly rejected a six-year, $120-million offer from the Diamondbacks.
The actual value of the contract will be a bit less because of deferred money.
The Dodgers pushed well beyond their financial comfort zone – not because they could not afford the money, but because history shows few investments tend to be greater follies than guaranteed money to a pitcher in his late 30s. Then, the 32-year-old righty opted out of his contract, leaving $71.5 million on the table and wound up with the richest deal, by yearly average, in baseball history.
The Diamondbacks just recently came into an extra $1.5 billion in a new TV deal, as well as an ownership stake in Fox Sports Arizona, so that influx of cash is probably why they were emboldened to beat the Dodgers at their own game. Tallying a career 66-69 record and a 3.80 ERA in his eight American League seasons, a switch was flipped when he was dealt to Milwaukee in 2011. He went 19-3 and pitched six or more innings in all 32 of his starts.
“It is more of what we are trying to do”. The Dodgers also gained a compensatory selection between the first and second rounds of the draft next year.
The San Francisco Giants were rumored to be among the top bidders for Greinke, the 2009 American League Cy Young Award victor while with the Kansas City Royals.
Magic Johnson, who owns a minority stake in the Dodgers, said this week that Greinke was the team’s “No. 1 priority”, with a qualifier.
The Dodgers might not be in this situation had they traded for Hamels at the deadline a year ago.
“Boston was special to me, both good and bad, throughout my career”, the 30-year-old left-hander said of his sometimes contentious relationship with the Red Sox and their fans. What will the Dodgers do now to build around this once-in-a- generation talent before his window of dominance closes?
“At the moment, the Dodgers” rotation consists of the consensus No. 1 pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, and a series of question marks. Not coincidentally, Kershaw insisted for an opt out clause after the fifth year in his seven-year contract extension in January 2014. “It’s going to be exciting for our fans, but it’s going to be really exciting for our team”.
If the Giants should strike out on all their top pitching targets, they are expected to turn toward the sizable free-agent market in left field, with Yoenis Cespedes and Ben Zobrist the most intriguing potential fits.
Now that Greinke is gone, the Dodgers currently have three healthy starting pitchers on their roster: Kershaw, Brett Anderson, and Wood. They could have spread it around to 2 more solid pitchers, such as Jeff Samardzija and Mike Leake and also added depth around the infield and outfield.
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The Giants courted Greinke, but it’s not known if they offered a sixth year. This one is going to hurt.
