A Dodgers Dilemma: Should Zack Greinke be Re-signed?

We’ve laid out the case for signing Zack Greinke or letting him walk. Eventually, though, a choice needs to be made. Here’s how we see this playing out.

Conclusion

This boils down to two points. The first is should the Dodgers re-sign Zack Greinke? The second is will the Dodgers re-sign Zack Greinke? For some context, my guesstimate on the price tag to sign Greinke is: $137.5 million for five years, or $27.5 million per year. This is a little more than his original deal he signed with the Dodgers when Greinke was three-years younger, $147-million, six-year, or $24.5 million per year.

Should the Dodgers re-sign Greinke? Yes, unless they sign familiar face David Price (Freidman was the General Manager of the Tampa Rays when Price pitched for the Rays).

Price is two years younger than Greinke, is a lefty, and is an ace pitcher. Of course this front office could pull-off another ten player trade that could change everything, or do that, and sign Greinke and Price. This is really wishful thinking.

Will the Dodgers re-sign Greinke? No.

Sad as it may be, the new front office philosophy dictates that they should develop talent, trade for controllable pitching, and let another team spend $130-140 million for a 32 year-old pitcher, even it is the San Francisco Giants.

Where might he sign? Remember when Greinke signed where he could make the most money? Greinke is honest and that is a good thing. Greinke will sign with the team that pays him the most money. That well could be with the Dodgers. When thinking about this, a great line from the Kevin Costner baseball movie “For the Love of the Game” comes to mind. When Billy Chapel, played by Costner, is reminiscing about his best friend and Yankee’s slugger Davis Birch who left the Detroit Tigers to sign for more money. Birch aptly replied to Chapel’s comment about Detroit being his family, “This is my family [pointing to his wife and child].” Baseball players must consistently do what is best for them and here that may be signing with the highest bidder.

In closing, let us demonstrate Greinke’s honesty ever further and why he makes a great teammate and leader. In 2010, when Greinke was in the midst of trade talks with the Royals wanting to send him off for talent, Greinke later explained why he thought a trade to the Washington Nationals was bad. “The Nationals are trying to build a winner . . . [and] if I’m going to go there, I didn’t really want them to trade away the players they were going to build around. That hurts their team.'” The Royals would have received Jordan Zimmermann, Drew Storen, Danny Espinosa, and Derek Norris from the Washington Nationals. Instead, the Milwaukee Brewers sent Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi for Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt.

The rest is history, and soon will be the team’s bank account that signs Greinke, which is likely worth it. For many Dodger fans, the front office will continue to make the best decisions it can unless expectations fall short.