Greinke’s Royal reunion official
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals finalized Zack Greinke’s $8.5 million contract for the upcoming season on Friday, bringing back a well-known and veteran arm to their otherwise young starting rotation.
The deal for the 39-year-old right-hander includes up to $7.5 million in performance bonuses. He made $13 million with the Royals last season, when he went 3-9 with a 3.68 ERA while allowing two runs or fewer in 17 of 26 starts.
Greinke began his career in Kansas City as a first-round pick in the 2002 amateur draft. And after fits and starts, and nearly walking away from baseball early in his professional career, he flashed onto the scene two years later, starting a 20-year career that has included time with the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Astros.
It was largely his affinity for then-general manager Dayton Moore that led him to return to Kansas City, where he pitched well last season despite two stints on the injured list. Moore was fired late in the season, though, and it was the new GM J.J. Picollo — one of Moore’s longtime lieutenants — who decided to bring Grienke back this season.
To make room on the roster, the Royals designated LHP Anthony Misiewicz for assignment.
Greinke won the AL Cy Young Award in 2009 in his penultimate season in his first stint in Kansas City. He was later traded to the Brewers for a package of players that helped to form the backbone of back-to-back American League pennant teams and the club that won the 2015 World Series.
TRADING SOX
The Chicago White Sox acquired reliever Franklin German in a trade with the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
The White Sox sent minor league righthander Theo Denlinger to Boston for German, who made his major league debut in September.
The 25-year-old German played for Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester for most of last season, going 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA and seven saves in in 43 relief appearances. The right-hander had no record and an 18.00 ERA in five appearances with the Red Sox.
German, a fourth-round pick in the 2018 amateur draft, was designated for assignment Monday when Boston acquired reliever Richard Bleier in a trade with Miami.
The 26-year-old Denlinger had a 2-2 record and a 4.47 ERA in 40 appearances last season with Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. He was a seventh-round selection in the 2021 draft out of Bradley University.
FRIED, BRAVES GO TO ARBITRATION
Pitcher Max Fried went to salary arbitration with the Atlanta Braves for the second straight year, asking for $15 million instead of the team’s $13.5 million offer.
The 29-year-old left-hander went 14-7 for the second straight season and lowered his ERA to 2.48 from 3.04 in 2021. Fried was a first-time AllStar last season, was second to Miami’s Sandy Alcantara in Cy Young Award voting and was third in the National League in ERA behind Alcantara and Julio Urías with the Los Angeles Dodgers.