DESERT DELIGHT
Sources: Greinke, Diamondbacks make 6-year, $206.5M deal
The Arizona Diamondbacks unveiled their snazzy new uniforms one day, then landed a new ace to wear them the next. Surprise! Zack Greinke is coming to the desert.
The D-backs beat out the division rival Dodgers and Giants to unexpectedly win the Greinke sweepstakes Friday night, acquiring the free agent ace they hope will get the franchise contending again—and fast. He reached an agreement on a $206.5 million, six-year contract, sources told The Associated Press. The major league ERA leader and runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award helped lead the Dodgers to their third straight division title this season. 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 sources spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there hadn’t been an official announcement. Fox Sports first reported an agreement.
Greinke was the second former AL Cy Young winner to get a mega-contract this week. David Price joined the Boston Red Sox for $217 million over seven years. The moves came as teams prepared to head this weekend to the winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee.
Greinke’s new deal contains deferred money. The $34.4 million average will be the sport’s highest, topping Price’s $31 million.
Earlier this offseason, pitcher Johnny Cueto turned down a $120 million offer from the Diamondbacks after he helped Kansas City win the World Series and became a free agent.
Instead, the Diamondbacks reeled in an even bigger prize. They had money to spend—last February, they signed a TV deal with Fox Sports Arizona for more than $1.5 billion over 20 years.
Greinke’s contract gave him the flexibility to find a new home. He was in prime position, too, after setting a career high for wins by going 19-3 and posting a 1.66 ERA that was the best in the majors in 20 years.
In December 2012, Greinke signed a $147 million, six-year deal with the Dodgers that included an opt-out clause. He exercised it and walked away from a whopping amount over the next three years.
“We made a very strong offer to retain Zack but clearly he found a deal that fit better for him and his family,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said in a statement. “We are now hard at work on our alternatives.”
Out of the playoffs since 2011, the Diamondbacks finished 79-83 last season, 13 games behind the West champion Dodgers and also trailing the Giants, who have won three of the last six World Series.
Arizona scored the second-most runs in the NL last season, but was thin in the pitching department—Diamondbacks starters threw the second-fewest innings in the league.
The Diamondbacks tried this season to clear salary. In June, they traded pitcher Bronson Arroyo to Atlanta to further reduce their payroll.
“It is more of what we are trying to do. The money is definitely important,” Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart said at the time. “We said that we are going to try to do what we can to promote our young pitchers but also give ourselves a chance to make some savings so that we can have an opportunity to do things at a later date.”
On Friday night, they did a really big thing. After revealing futuristic uniforms for 2016 a day earlier, Arizona found its new big star to wear one.
Greinke’s ERA was the lowest in the majors since Greg Maddux had a 1.63 ERA in 1995. Greinke had a scoreless streak of 45 2-3 innings this summer.
REMAINING FREE AGENTS AMERICAN LEAGUE
BALTMORE (5)—q-Wei-Yin Chen, lhp; q-Chris Davis, 1b; Darren O’Day, rhp; Gerardo Parra, of; Steve Pearce, of. BOSTON (1)—Craig Breslow, lhp. CHICAGO (4)—Matt Albers, rhp; Gordon Beckham, 3b;
Alexei Ramirez, ss; q-Jeff Samardzija, rhp. CLEVELAND (4)—Mike Aviles, inf-of; Gavin Floyd, rhp;
Ryan Raburn, dh; Ryan Webb, rhp. DETROIT (5)—Rajai Davis, of; Tom Gorzelanny, lhp; Joe
Nathan, rhp; Alfredo Simon, rhp; Randy Wolf, lhp. HOUSTON (5)—Scott Kazmir, lhp; Oliver Perez, lhp;
Chad Qualls, rhp; Tony Sipp, lhp; Joe Thatcher, lhp. KANSAS CITY (9)—Johnny Cueto, rhp; Jonny Gomes, of; q-Alex Gordon, of; Jeremy Guthrie, rhp; Ryan Madson, rhp; Franklin Morales, lhp; Alex Rios, of; Chris Young, rhp; Ben Zobrist, 2b. LOS ANGELES (7)—David DeJesus, of; David Freese, 3b; Matt Joyce, of; Mat Latos, rhp; David Murphy, of; Shane Victorino, of; Wesley Wright, lhp. MINNESOTA (5)—Blaine Boyer, rhp; Neal Cotts, lhp; Brian Duensing, lhp; Torii Hunter, of; Mike Pelfrey, rhp. NEW YORK (2)—Chris Capuano, lhp; Stephen Drew, 2b. OAKLAND (2)—Edward Mujica, rhp; Barry Zito, lhp. SEATTLE (2)—Joe Beimel, lhp; q-Hisashi Iwakuma, rhp. TAMPA BAY (3)—Asdrubal Cabrera, ss; John Jaso, dh;
Grady Sizemore, of. TEXAS (6)—q-Yovani Gallardo, rhp; Colby Lewis, rhp; Mike Napoli, 1b; Ross Ohlendorf, rhp; Drew Stubbs, of; Will Venable, of. TORONTO (8)—Mark Buehrle, lhp; Jeff Francis, lhp; Maicer Izturis, 2b; LaTroy Hawkins, rhp; Munenori Kawasaki, inf; Mark Lowe, rhp; Dioner Navarro, c;
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ARIZONA (2)—David Hernandez, rhp; Jarrod
Saltalamacchia, c. ATLANTA (3)—Ross Detwiler, lhp; Edwin Jackson, rhp;
Peter Moylan, rhp. CHICAGO (8)—Trevor Cahill, rhp; Chris Denorfia, of; q-Dexter Fowler, of; Dan Haren, rhp; Tommy Hunter, rhp; Austin Jackson, of; Jason Motte, rhp; Fernando Rodney, rhp. CINCINNATI (4)—Burke Badenhop, rhp; Sean Marshall,
lhp; Manny Parra, lhp; Skip Schumaker, inf-of. COLORADO (2)—Kyle Kendrick, rhp; Justin Morneau, 1b. LOS ANGELES (7)—Bronson Arroyo, rhp; q-Howie Kendrick, 2b; Joel Peralta, rhp; Jimmy Rollins, ss; Chase Utley, 2b. MIAMI (3)—Don Kelly, 3b; Jeff Mathis, c; Casey
McGehee, 3b. MILWAUKEE (1)—Kyle Lohse, rhp. NEW YORK (9)—Jerry Blevins, lhp; Yoenis Cespedes, of; Tyler Clippard, rhp; Bartolo Colon, rhp; Kelly Johnson, of; q-Daniel Murphy, 2b; Eric O’Flaherty, lhp; Bobby Parnell, rhp; Juan Uribe, 3b. PHILADELPHIA (5)—Chad Billingsley, rhp; Jeff Francoeur, of; Aaron Harang, rhp; Cliff Lee, lhp; Jerome Williams, rhp. PITTSBURGH (7)—Antonio Bastardo, lhp; Joe Blanton, rhp; A.J. Burnett, rhp; Corey Hart, 1b; Aramis Ramirez, 3b; Sean Rodriguez, inf-of; Joakim Soria, rhp. ST. LOUIS (7)—Matt Belisle, rhp; Jonathan Broxton, rhp; Randy Choate, lhp; q-Jason Heyward, of; q-John Lackey, rhp; Mark Reynolds, 1b-3b; Carlos Villanueva, rhp. SAN DIEGO (6)—Clint Barmes, ss; Josh Johnson, rhp; Shawn Kelley, rhp; q-Ian Kennedy, rhp; Brandon Morrow, rhp; q-Justin Upton, of. SAN FRANCISCO (9)—Jeremy Affeldt, lhp; Nori Aoki, of; Marlon Byrd, of; Alejandro De Aza, of; Tim Hudson, rhp; Mike Leake, rhp; Tim Lincecum, rhp; Marco Scutaro, 2b; Ryan Vogelsong, rhp. WASHINGTON (7)—q-Ian Desmond, ss; Doug Fister, rhp; Casey Janssen, rhp; Nate McLouth, of; Denard Span, of; Matt Thornton, lhp; Dan Uggla, 2b.