Trading for the future
Sending Greinke to Astros painful but necessary to lift D-Backs out of mediocrity
On Wednesday afternoon, the Diamondbacks traded away one of the few reasons to continue watching them this season. But tickets and television ratings aside, sending pitcher Zack Greinke to the Astros for prospects makes sense.
Despite Greinke’s brilliance this season, the Diamondbacks have excelled only at being incredibly average. So, better to trade Greinke, and a majority of the $76 million he was due to make the next twoplus years, and begin in earnest to remake a roster that was taking the Diamondbacks nowhere.
But Greinke’s departure is painful, as was the trade of Paul Goldschmidt to the Cardinals last December. In less than eight months, the Diamondbacks have traded their two best players.
Greinke was the only sure thing in the rotation, at least in a positive sense. Entering Wednesday’s game against the Yankees, Greinke
was 10-4 with a 2.87 ERA.
Three of the four prospects the Diamondbacks received in return were ranked among the top five in the Astros organization, according to MLB Pipeline: righthanders J.B. Bukauskas (No. 4), Corbin Martin (No. 5) and infielder/outfielder Seth Beer (No. 3). Infielder Joshua Rojas is ranked 22nd on the list.
The Diamondbacks will pay $24 million of the $76 million left on Greinke’s contract, an MLB source told The Arizona Republic.
In one day, Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen reshaped the starting rotation. That was a surprise only in that Greinke was dealt and not left-hander Robbie Ray.
Both were on the market, but moving Greinke was a bigger challenge, given his contract included hefty salaries and a no-trade clause that included 15 teams. The Astros were not one of those teams.
Greinke’s trade was foreshadowed a bit by other moves made Wednesday. The Diamondbacks traded shortstop prospect Jazz Chisolm to the Marlins for pitcher Zac Gallen, a rookie who has been impressive in his seven starts this season. And they sent a prospect to the Mariners for pitcher Mike Leake.
That prompted speculation that the Diamondbacks were about to trade a pitcher, probably Ray. Despite months of speculation that Greinke could be traded, Wednesday’s news made eyes pop.
It’s also the kind of deal that Hazen was hired nearly three years ago to make.
Circumstances delayed the process. The Diamondbacks surprisingly made the playoffs in 2017, and Hazen elected to try to make a championship run in 2018.
A September collapse ended that hope, and there was speculation in the offseason that the Diamondbacks would blow up the roster and start over.
They didn’t and instead chose to swap a big piece here (Goldschmidt) and there (Greinke) in exchange for youth and prospects.
It’s early, but the Goldschmidt deal looks favorable for the Diamondbacks. Carson Kelly has emerged as a reliable starting catcher and Luke Weaver pitched well before being sidelined by injury.
Trading star players is always perilous, especially in the Valley, a market that favors stars and winners more than most. Watching Gallen and Leake won’t be appointment viewing. And the prospects from the Astros likely won’t make an impact until 2020 at the earliest.
Wednesday’s moves weren’t made to enhance our viewing pleasure in 2019. But if they lead to something more than mediocrity down the road, they will have been worth it.