It what has been a crazy turn of events, top free agent pitcher Zack Greinke agreed to a new six year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks for $206.5 million.
It was believed to be a two horse race between the Los Angeles Dodgers and their arch rival San Francisco Giants vying for Greinke’s services through the entirety of the offseason. On Friday morning, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports had reported the Arizona Diamondbacks were pursuing the former Dodgers co-ace. Shortly thereafter, news broke that Greinke had come to an agreement with the Diamondbacks for an insane $206 million.
The move, while albeit a bit of a head scratcher, makes sense for the Diamondbacks. A young club with plenty of talent, the Snakes had been seeking out an ace to help improve a relatively young rotation that was lead by Patrick Corbin. Will the Greinke signing put Arizona over the top? As of today, no, it will not. But there is still plenty of time left in the offseason for Arizona to improve their rotation and bullpen, where they struggled mightily in 2015.
Though the hefty amount given to Greinke might prove to be tricky for Arizona to add additional pieces, reports have indicated they have enough money to make another move for another pitcher. Diamondbacks General Manager Dave Stewart is said to being eyeing former Giant Mike Leake, who is expected to seek out a contract in the $90-$100 million range.
Signing Leake will give the Diamondbacks a formidable 1-3 punch with Greinke, Corbin and Leake, all while stealing two pitchers from their division rival Dodgers and Giants in Greinke and Leake. Though the impact of losing Greinke is far higher for the Dodgers than the Giants loss of Leake.
The Giants, on the other hand, turned around on Saturday morning after receiving news that Greinke was headed to Arizona and signed Jeff Samardzija to a five year $90 million contract. Samardzija is coming off a horrid season with the Chicago White Sox in which he posted a 4.96 ERA and lead the league in home runs allowed, hits, and runs.
A move to the pitcher friendly AT&T park will help the former first round pick, along with having a strong defense. Additionally, Samardzija will be throwing to Buster Posey, a significant upgrade over the catchers he had in Chicago.
The relatively low cost signing, at least in today’s market, allows the Giants some flexibility to sign another starter or spend big on a left fielder. The Giants are reportedly expected to meet with free agent Ben Zobrist, but signing Zobrist to a multiyear deal is risky given he will be 35 early in the season.
Speculation has that General Manager Bobby Evans may push hard for a Yoenis Cespedes or Justin Upton. Upton has stated multiple times he does not like San Francisco, and assuming his market will consist of at least five to seven clubs, Upton may find a home that he considers more to his liking.
Cespedes, however, is an intriguing option for the Giants. He has an outstanding arm and solid power, but struggles to get on base. His market has yet to develop, but adding his big bat would deepen and already well balanced Giants lineup.
Additionally, adding a Cespedes or another big bat to plug into left field would give the Giants some flexibility to dangle first baseman Brandon Belt and prospects for a solid young and controllable starter to add to the rotation. That is, however, pure speculation on my part.
No other team in baseball has taken a bigger hit this offseason than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost Greinke to the Diamondbacks. Greinke formed one of the best 1-2 pitching punches with Clayton Kershaw in all of baseball last season.
While there is no replacing Greinke, the Dodgers are believed, according to Jim Bowden, to be closing in on a contract with former Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, who has put some solid seasons with the Mariners and can fill in nicely in the three slot, or if the Dodgers don’t acquire a co-ace to pair with Kershaw, can serve as a decent number two.
Dodgers have enough minor league talent to trade for young and controllable starter such as Shelby Miller, or, look for alternatives on the free agent market such as Johnny Cueto. Additionally, the Dodgers have enough minor league talent that someone within their farm system will step up and be a shot in the arm.
The Dodgers are also reportedly in trade discussions with the Reds for Aroldis Chapman, the fire throwing left hander. Pairing Chapman at the end of the bullpen with closer Kenley Jansen will give LA the best 8th-9th inning duo in all of baseball.
The offseason is still young, and there will certainly be a lot of trades and signings that will occur this week at the annual Winter Meetings, which being today until Thursday, December 10th.
