Greinke named to Sporting News NL All-Star team by Eric Stephen | True Blue LA — 4 minutes ago Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke was named to the 2015 Sporting News National League All-Star team, the publication announced on Wednesday. The team was selected by a panel of 25 National League executives before the postseason began, and though the voting totals were not released Sporting News did say pitcher was its closest position, with Greinke "edging out" both Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta, the trio which figure to dominate the top three NL pitching spots during award season. Greinke was 19-3 with a major-league-best 1.66 ERA in 2015, with 200 strikeouts and 40 walks in his 222⅔ innings in 32 starts. He led the majors in WHIP (0.844) and quality starts (30), the first major leaguer with 30 quality starts in a season since 2010. This was the second Sporting News All-Star honor for Greinke, who was the American League starting pitcher in 2009, the same season he captured AL Cy Young Award honors. Joining Greinke on the Sporting News NL All-Star team is catcher Buster Posey of the Giants, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks, second baseman Dee Gordon of the Marlins, third baseman Nolan Arenado of the Rockies, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, outfielders Bryce Harper of the Nationals, Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates and A.J. Pollock of Arizona, and Pirates closer Mark Melancon. Greinke is the seventh Dodgers starting pitcher to be named a Sporting News NL All-Star (separate league All-Stars voted on since 1961), joining Sandy Koufax (1963-66), Clayton Kershaw (2011, 2013-14), Fernando Valenzuela (1981, 1986), Don Drysdale (1962), Andy Messersmith (1974) and Orel Hershiser (1988).
Zack Greinke won’t be going anywhere by Joshua Sadlock | Baseball Essential — 5 minutes ago Coming off the best season of his career, and one of the best run-preventing seasons of the modern era, Zack Greinke will opt out of the final three years and $71 MM remaining on his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now 32, Greinke will likely finish first or second in the NL Cy Young vote this year. With the rise in open market value of a top-flight ace, opting out makes sense for Greinke. His next deal will be for at least $25 MM per season, and possibly more. The only reason Greinke is not a $30 MM per year pitcher is his age. Once Greinke opts out, don’t expect a lengthy negotiating process. The Dodgers need Greinke. Greinke needs the Dodgers. More specifically, he needs Dodger Stadium, one of the most pitcher-friendly stadiums in the league. In three seasons with the Dodgers, Greinke has a 51-15 record with a 2.30 ERA. In 47 career starts at Dodger Stadium, Greinke is 29-5 with a 2.00 ERA. The right-hander has three straight sub-3.00 ERA seasons with the Dodgers. Greinke had only one sub-3.00 ERA season in his first nine years in the league — his 2.16 ERA, AL Cy Young winning 2009 season. The Dodgers need Greinke. Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in the league. The rotation’s depth drops off dramatically. Brett Anderson is also a free agent. The Dodgers will also look to re-sign the groundball machine. Then it’s Alex Wood. Then it’s…Bueller…Bueller…Mike Bolsinger? For a team that shells out $300 MM per season, bumping Greinke up an additional $5 MM per year is a drop in the bucket. There could be concerns about giving him a contract that will run up to age 37. Greinke has had some minor injury concerns, but nothing huge. Since 2008, there have been only two seasons in which he failed to surpass 30 starts. Greinke is not a power pitcher, and his ability to locate, change speeds, and move the ball around in the strike zone will still play even when he loses a few more ticks on his fastball. Pitching in Dodger Stadium suits Greinke, and he pitches to contact and lets the ballpark hold hits down. The opt-out is a formality. Greinke is just doing what makes the most sense for him financially. He can get two extra years with a few million more per. Who can blame him? Los Angeles works for Greinke, and he has become comfortable there. There’s very little reason for him to leave. Plenty of teams will come calling on Greinke, but at the end of the day, expect him to return to the Dodgers to serve as a very capable 1A to Kershaw’s 1.
"Plenty of teams will come calling on Greinke, but at the end of the day, expect him to return to the Dodgers to serve as a very capable 1A to Kershaw’s 1." we should only hope so...
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/los-angeles-dodgers No surprise it's official...... He'll be offered all the money from all suitors so it's probably up to his wife LOL.
Where will Zack Greinke end up signing? by David Schoenfield | ESPN.com — 6 hours ago As expected, Zack Greinke opted out of the final three years and $71 million of his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and filed for free agency. The right-hander is coming off a season in which he went 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA, leading the National League in ERA, WAR, on-base percentage allowed and other good stuff. In his three seasons with the Dodgers, he went 51-15 with a 2.30 ERA. He's never missed time with an arm injury; his DL stints have been a result of a broken rib suffered playing basketball and a broken collarbone in 2013 suffered in a brawl with the Arizona Diamondbacks. At 32, he's two years older than Max Scherzer was last offseason when Scherzer signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals, so Greinke may not receive that much. But expect something in the $170 million-$180 million range if he goes for the maximum offer. Who lands him? This is pure speculation, but since Greinke loves to hit -- he hit .224 with two home runs in 2015 and .249 in his Dodgers career -- I'm thinking he'll sign with a National League team. Maybe money trumps all in the end. After all, in his last free agency, Greinke admitted that money is "obviously the No. 1 thing. I could play for the worst team if they paid the most. ... If the last-place team offers $200 million and the first-place team offers $10, I'm going to go for the $200 million no matter what team it was." But Greinke is also the unpredictable personality who may want to remain in the NL. With that in mind, here are five possible destinations, all NL teams: 1. The favorite: Los Angeles Dodgers Over the past two seasons the Dodgers were just one game over .500 when Greinke or Clayton Kershaw didn't start. Brett Anderson is also a free agent, so Kershaw and Alex Wood (4.35 ERA in 12 starts) are the current holdovers from the rotation. Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy will be trying to come back from injuries, and prospects Jose De Leon and Julio Urias have limited time above A ball. The Dodgers obviously have the cash, but you can also envision a scenario in which they won't want to wait on Greinke's decision. Maybe they instead go after David Price or Johnny Cueto. Maybe they sign Jason Heyward to a big deal and trade Yasiel Puig. Maybe the allocate their resources in multiple players. That said, everyone seems to think the Dodgers are the favorite to sign Greinke. 2. Big-market team with money: Chicago Cubs All the early rumors have Price reuniting with Joe Maddon, his manager from his Tampa Bay days. But maybe the Cubs like Greinke better. Maybe they like idea of two right-handed aces in Jake Arrieta and Greinke and one lefty in Jon Lester as opposed to Arrieta and two lefties. Maybe Price's poor postseason results will scare them off. Maybe they evaluate Greinke's hitting -- worth 0.6 WAR in 2015 -- as worth an additional $4-5 million in value. Or maybe the Cubs are happy with two aces, keep money in reserve to extend Arrieta in the future and spend their money on a center fielder or a corner outfielder if they think Kyle Schwarber ends up behind the plate. 3. You never have enough pitching: Washington Nationals The Nationals may skimp on paying managers, but they don't skimp on paying players. The rotation beyond Scherzer was a disappointment in 2015. They're also losing a lot of money off the books in free agents: Jordan Zimmermann ($16.5 million in 2015), Doug Fister ($11.4 million), Ian Desmond ($11 million), Denard Span ($9 million), Nate McLouth ($5 million) and Matt Thornton ($3.5 million). With Trea Turner and Michael Taylor ready to step in for Desmond and Span, that's $56.4 million that will go somewhere (other than a savings account for Bryce Harper). Keep in mind that Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez are also free agents after 2016 and signing Greinke as a one-two punch alongside Scherzer makes sense. 4. The rival: San Francisco Giants Tim Hudson retired and Tim Lincecum is a free agent, so that's $30 million in new change lying around. Some of that goes to increases for Buster Posey (about $3 million) and Madison Bumgarner (another $3 million), and Jake Peavy jumps up from $9 million to $15 million. Brandon Crawford will get a big raise in arbitration. Bumgarner's team-friendly contract runs through 2019, so re-signing him isn't an immediate issue. Plus the Giants have a lot of money soon coming off the books: Peavy, Angel Pagan and Sergio Romo after 2016. Marco Scutaro made $6.7 million in 2015 while on the DL. All that is a way of saying there could be room in the payroll for Greinke. The Giants definitely need help with the rotation, which ranked seventh in the NL in ERA but just 12th in road ERA. Maybe they stick to a midrotation guy like Mike Leake and hope Matt Cain can make a strong comeback, but signing Greinke -- and sticking it to the Dodgers -- would be pretty sweet. 5. The sleeper: Arizona Diamondbacks They have some offense; they can catch the ball. They need an ace. The club's only long-term commitments beyond 2016 are Paul Goldschmidt, whose contract is highway robbery for a star of his stature, and Yasmany Tomas. There's money here if Tony La Russa and Dave Stewart can convince Greinke to come to the desert. And if you want a real long shot, how about the Miami Marlins? Greinke is from Florida, he's played for Don Mattingly, and apparently all Jeffrey Loria has to do is offer the most money.
lol LA Metro joins in Greinke recruitment pitch by Anthony Irwin | Dodgers Nation — 1 hour ago Zack Greinke’s impact on the Los Angeles Dodgers has been immense since he came as a free agent in 2013, this much goes without saying. Just as it goes without saying the Dodgers, the fans and now apparently LA Metro want him to re-sign after having opted out of his current deal on Wednesday. Look at it this way: When the Dodgers – or any sports team for that matter – are good, the entire city benefits. As such, it makes sense that multiple entities from throughout the city would get involved in the pitch to convince Greinke to re-sign this offseason. This tweet, from the official account of LA Metro, drew some eyes: You hear celebrities say it all the time: once they’re millionaires, people start giving them stuff they couldn’t afford before they struck it big. I’m sure once Greinke inks his next deal (already being estimated in the $200 million range) he’ll be able to afford the entire train for rides if he pleases. Still, free transportation to avoid L.A. traffic seems like a nice perk.
