The Los Angeles Dodgers were dealt a major blow Friday night as Zack Greinke appears to have reached an agreement with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The contract, not yet made official by the Diamondbacks, is for a reported six years and $206.5 million with deferrals included.
Assuming the figure to be true, Greinke will set a new Major League Baseball record for average annual value at $34.42 million.
David Price previously held the honor, albeit briefly, with his seven-year, $217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox that equates to a $31 million annual average.
Over the last few days the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were in the hunt for Greinke. The Diamondbacks entered the picture Friday afternoon and quickly worked to reach an agreement.
According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, the Dodgers were believed they were near striking a deal with the 32 year old on Wednesday:
Dodgers thought they were close to a Greinke deal on Wednesday. Things changed, obviously.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 5, 2015
Hesitant to guarantee a sixth year, the Dodgers’ offer to Greinke came in at five years and roughly $31 million annually, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports:
dodgers offered greinke five years for about $31M
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 5, 2015
With Greinke and Price both off the board, Los Angeles reportedly will now shift their attention to Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Also believed to be on the Dodgers’ radar are Hisashi Iwakuma and Scott Kazmir.
By making the one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer to Greinke, the Dodgers will receive a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds of the 2016 MLB Draft. Over three seasons with the Dodgers, Greinke went 51-15 with a 2.30 ERA.
