The Arizona Diamondbacks have landed the best pitcher left on the MLB free agent market, agreeing to terms with former Los Angeles Dodgers ace Zack Greinke, per multiple media reports. The deal is for six years and $206 million, averaging out to over $34 million per season.
Arizona signed a $1.5 billion television deal earlier this year, upping their budget and giving them plenty to spend as they engaged in a bidding war with the NL West rival San Francisco Giants, home-standing Los Angeles Dodgers and other teams for Greinke's signature. The Diamondbacks came on late for Greinke, with reports of negotiations surfacing just a couple hours before the announcement.\
The Diamondbacks also offered Johnny Cueto a sizeable deal this offseason, but Greinke was by far the class of the free agent pitching crop after David Price inked a seven-year deal with the Boston Red Sox.
Greinke posted a miniscule 1.66 ERA in 32 starts for the Dodgers this past season -- the best ERA for a qualified starter in Major League Baseball. He also posted an equally-as-impressive 0.84 WHIP and 200/40 K/BB ratio.
As recently as a few weeks ago, the Dodgers were considered by many to be the prohibitive favorites to lock Greinke down long term. However, the 32-year-old righty's future became less of a certainty as additional bidders joined the fray with offers speculated to be in the six- to seven-year range at a price over the $31 million per that Price commanded from the Red Sox.
Back to the Arizona Diamondbacks Newsfeed