For the first time since 2012, the Los Angeles Dodgers do not have an ace to pair with Clayton Kershaw at the front of their starting rotation.
Los Angeles went beyond what team president and CEO Stan Kasten called was ‘strictly prudent’ in their effort to re-sign Zack Greinke, but ultimately were unable to top the Arizona Diamondbacks’ six-year, $206.5 million contract off.
Entering the 2016 season as a 32 year old, Greinke is setting a new Major League Baseball record for average annual value at $34.42 million.
The previous high — $31 million — was shared by Miguel Cabrera and David Price. Price reached the average this past offseason by signing a seven-year, $217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.
After losing out on Greinke, the Dodgers spent a combined $63 million to add depth to their rotation in the form of Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda. Kazmir, signed to a three-year, $48 million contract, can opt out of his deal after this season and has deferred salaries.
Maeda, who will turn 28 years old on April 11, is signed an eight-year, $25 million deal, but can earn just shy of $100 million by reaching incentives for games started and innings pitched.
Together, Kazmir and Maeda will be relied upon to make up for the production lost now that Greinke is with Arizona. After Maeda threw his first live batting practice of Spring Training, Yasmani Grandal compared the right-hander to his former teammate, via ESPN’s Doug Padilla:
“The reason why I said Greinke is that he was the only guy we had last year who had a four-pitch mix,” Grandal said. “That’s why there was the comparison, not that they have the same stuff. They are obviously two different pitchers. But as far as getting creative and doing what we want to do, there is some comparison there.”
Grandal previously caught Maeda’s first bullpen session prior to the Dodgers officially opening camp at Camelback Ranch. The Japanese native is using the spring to experiment with multiple routines and intends to have one in place for the regular season.
Maeda was 97-67 with a 2.39 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and averaged 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings over eight seasons with the Hiroshima Carp. He twice won the Sawamura Award, which is equivalent to a Cy Young.
