That? That is the sound of inevitability. The sound of the nouveau riche throwing their money around and getting what they want. How much money? $147 million bucks. What do they want? The services of one Donald Zachary Greinke for the next six years.
It had to happen. And now it looks like it is.
We could sit here all night long and squabble over whether Greinke is an ace or not. If you have reservations over the dissonance between a pitcher’s peripheral stats and his results, you are well within your rights. You can’t make the same claim about Clayton Kershaw, Greinke’s new teammate. The presence of the 2011 Cy Young award winner takes any “pressure” a pitcher in Greinke’s situation might feel operating alongside lesser talents.
If Zack Greinke, the pitcher, has one shortcoming it is the long ball. Heading to Chavez Ravine is an excellent antidote for that disease. He joins Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Hanley Ramirez, and Carl Crawford as very obvious examples of the Dodgers flexing their financial might.
As talent goes, Zack Greinke takes a backseat to no man. He’s one of the most reliable pitchers in the game, making 160 starts over the last five season, pitching more than 1000 innings and ranking fifth in Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement. His 2009 season was one for the ages, pitching 229 innings of 2.30 FIP ball in the American League. His 9.3 fWAR total is the highest since Randy Johnson in 2004.
Zack Greinke had better be a historically great pitcher because, if 6/145 are indeed the terms of the deal, Greinke is now the highest paid right-handed pitcher of all time. More than Matt Cain and Roy Halladay and other Acey aces who signed big deals in recent memory.
$/WAR? Well, one could say the Dodgers are paying Greinke like he’s a 6 WAR pitcher now, hoping he can hold that form for at least the first two years of the deal before gently declining, all the while skirting injury like the blessed cherub he is.
In reality? The Dodgers don’t give a care. They give exactly no cares about your penny ante market valuations. NARY A CARE. The Dodgers wanted to bolster their pitching staff with the best guy they could so they did. Does it guarantee them a World Series, which in turn all but guarantees their investment in Greinke? lolnope.
TV deals that might burst like any other economic bubble are going to keep teams like Dodgers flush with cash for the next 10 to 15 years at least. As our own Wendy Thurm showed in her essential post for Fangraphs, the Dodgers are set to earn $280 million dollars a year in TV revenue. A year. PER YEAR.
Zack Greinke, pegged as an odd duck by most who know him, could go full Ricky Williams in June and the Dodgers wouldn’t break a financial sweat. They’re good to go, really. And they’re probably not done. Welcome to the new world order.
even with greinke. word is #dodgers may try for another big free-agent starter. anibal seems to top the rest of their list.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 9, 2012
Obviously the Dodgers want to win because there is no better way to build their brand and blahblah they’re cartoon rich the end.
this makes the matt cain deal look like a steal.
Dodgers add another pitcher and I like them to win the NL West over the Giants. I’ll take Kershaw and Greinke over Madbum and Cain next season, and I like the depth of the Dodgers rotation more as well. They almost made the playoffs last season with no offensive talent outside of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier vs Right handers and a rotation that relied on Chris Capuano as a #3 starter.
Have you met Madbum and Cain’s friend Tim? He’s pretty good too.
Tim. Ahhh yesss. Timothy Lincecum. Mr. Relegated to the bullpen (Although he was pretty lights out) Going into 2013, I’d feel much more comfortable with Chad BEARDingsly (If healthy) over Lincecum. Who knows what the Giants are going to get out of him next season
It might just be a THIRD Cy Young award for a pitcher who should still be in his prime :P
Timmy ain’t ever going to get that velocity back
a wise scribe once scribed “lolnope”
The Dogers payroll will probably be trouble in a few years when they have so many bloated contracts for players that will probably decline. They have the biggest payroll but are they even the best team on paper?
Or, they’ll just take a dive into their big ol’ scrooge pool of money and buy those players out and then move on
#realtalk
I’d say they’re one of the Top 4 teams in the NL now. Hard to see them being finished this offseason. if they can add Sanchez to that rotation, I’d like them to win the NL West.
not very good bang for your buck
When you have that much to spend, it really doesn’t matter.
Love me some lolnope!
I’m a professional, after all.
Rub off on Stoets, PLEASE!
Who’s Stoets? And what’s a rub off?
Like any of this matters. The big moves of the day are Michael Young and Jason Bay officially signing. A team with a +200 million a year payroll and the best free agent pitcher on the market don’t matter at ALL!
Apparently his full name is Donald Zackary Greinke. Does this make him the second richest Donald in America?
Depends on terms of Donald Duck’s inheritance from Scrooge McDuck
I wonder if this puts Billingsley, Capuano, or Beckett on the trade market? You have to think they didn’t bid on that Korean kid to throw him in the bullpen. I’d love to see the Jays grab Billingsley for JPA.
AJ Ellis cares not for your JPA
P.S. This pretty much guarantees Josh Johnson walks at year end unless the Jays sign him to an extension right now.
all the more reason for AA to get Dickey
I think Harang and Capuano actively are shopped now. Still some value there I’d assume for another NL team. The Dodgers are really high on Beckett for his “eadership” and want him in the rotation. I think they’ll keep Billingsley as well, who I’m quite high on.
Why does this guarantee Josh Johnson walks?
Because if Johnson returns to form he’s going to be worth 6 yrs at 120 to 150 mil in free agency and the Jays will not take their payroll high enough to keep him.
Why would the Jays not? They’ve yet to let a big free agent walk. Granted this would be the biggest contract yet, but if the Jays are winning and Johnson is pitching great, attendance will be strong and there’s no way Rogers doesn’t pony up to get him.
Josh was 8-14 in 2012. With better offense (not very good, not excellent, just better), Josh might have won 20 games. His next contract, even with an average year, could reach 5-7 years at $20.0 MM – $22.5 MM per year. It will then depend on how Toronto does as to whether or not A.A. wants him back.
Don’t use wins as aguage of how talented a pitcher is. Its 2012.
In terms of wins, dgapa is 7-12 for being a dick.