Zack Greinke opted out of his six-year, $147 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and left three years and $71 million on the table. He's expected to earn more in free agency, and while the Dodgers have long been believed to re-sign him, rumors suggest that may no longer be the case.
Greinke is a frontrunner for the NL Cy Young Award after posting the best ERA (1.66) in the MLB. He also led the league in WHIP (0.84) and winning percentage (.864). He's expected to have a number of suitors on the open market despite his age and price tag, but the Dodgers may not be one of them.
"At 32, Greinke is a free agent. Do the Dodgers wade into that pool and line up a five- or six-year, nine-figure contract, the kind of outlay it will take to sign a pitcher this good? Many people still seem to consider them the favorites to sign Greinke, but that hasn't been the signal the team has been giving off," writes Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
"The Dodgers are looking to get younger, and another mega-contract makes that more difficult. Also, team president Stan Kasten has a blanket policy against extending pitchers beyond a certain number of major-league pitches and Greinke, who has been durable throughout his career, has thrown more than 33,000.
"Also, most people assume Greinke wants to come back, but his distaste for a culture that let Yasiel Puig ignore team rules for several seasons is believed to be a factor in his thinking."
Based on previous rumors and speculation, this is no secret. The Dodgers do want to get younger as the roster consists of aging players such as Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner and the team is more than likely hesitant about giving a 32-year-old another five- or six-year deal, especially one who has pitched nearly 2,100 innings in 12 MLB seasons.
Remember, Greinke received a lubricating injection in his right elbow during spring training, which means his throwing arm requires maintenance. At his age it's not going to get any better.
Additionally, the Dodgers have a number of younger or cheaper options they can sort through in free agency. David Price, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Jeff Samardzija, Yovani Gallardo, J.A. Happ, Scott Kazmir, Mike Leake and others are among those arms. While only Price can probably match up with Greinke's abilities, the other names can still provide a good presence in the Dodgers' rotation, which is expected to get back Hyun-Jin Ryu at the beginning of the season and Brandon McCarthy at some point in the middle of 2016.
Yes, Greinke would be an immense loss, but there are other cost-effective ways to replace him. The Dodgers have all the money in the world, but it'd be tough for them to give Greinke, say, a six-year, $186 million deal (estimated by ESPN Insider Jim Bowden) and add to an already aging roster and excessive payroll.
Then again, there have been conflicting reports on this front. Some say Greinke is the Dodgers' top target while others say the team is unsure about giving a long-term deal to a pitcher over 30 years old.
The San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs are others rumored to be in the running for the right-hander, so he's nonetheless bound to get paid.
