The post-lockout free agent frenzy continues with another big-name player locked into a new deal. Zack Greinke has signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal, which is pending a physical, is reportedly worth $13 million and includes a $2 million bonus depending on innings-pitched. Greinke, 38, is entering his 18th Major League season, and will be returning to the team who drafted him in 2002, and where he made his debut in 2004.
Zack Greinke got his career started in 2004 with the Kansas City Royals. He spent his first seven Big League seasons with the Royals that included a Cy Young Award in 2009 and an All-Star appearance, also in 2009. He was traded from the Royals to the Brewers after the 2010 season, in a package deal that sent Greinke, along with Yuniesky Betancourt, to the Brewers in exchange for Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi.
Zack Greinke played for the Brewers in 2011 and 2012. He put together a solid 2011 season where he posted a 3.83 ERA with 16 wins and 201 strikeouts in 28 starts, and helped the Brewers qualify for the postseason. Greinke began the 2012 season with the Brewers and made 21 starts going 9-3 with 120 strikeouts and a 3.44 ERA before getting traded to the Angels midseason. He finished the 2012 season with 34 starts, going 15-5 and striking out 200 batters with a 3.48 ERA.
Zack Greinke signed with the Dodgers prior to the 2013 season. He then put together some solid years with the team. He won the Silver Slugger Award in 2013, and was an All-Star pitcher in 2014 and 2015. Greinke also won his first of six consecutive Gold Glove Awards in 2014.
Zack Greinke opted out of his contract with the Dodgers after the 2015 season and signed a new contract with the Diamondbacks ahead of the 2016 season. With the Diamondbacks, Greinke would win the Gold Glove every season from 2016-2019, and was an All-Star for three straight seasons from 2017-2019. He also won his second career Silver Slugger Award in 2019. Greinke was traded at the deadline and finished his 2019 season with the Astros, who eventually won the American League Pennant, but lost to the Nationals in the World Series despite the Astros leading Game 7 at the time Greinke was pulled.
Greinke spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Astros, while finishing out his original Diamondbacks contract. Greinke helped the Astros get back to the World Series in 2021, but they lost in 6 games to the National League Champions Atlanta Braves.
Zack Greinke became a free agent following the 2021 season and went unsigned prior to the MLB lockout. His career numbers include 219 wins, 2,809 strikeouts, and a 3.41 ERA.
So the first question is, where will the veteran right-handed pitcher slot into the Royals pitching rotation? Well, according to Alec Lewis, a Kansas City Royals beat writer, Greinke will be at the front of the rotation. Lewis expands by saying that the Royals have a young rotation and Greinke can provide the necessary experience that could help in the growth of the other young pitchers.
The next question that came up was, whether the Greinke signing was sentimental? Alec Lewis responded that he didn’t think that that was the case. He stuck with his original statement of the Royals looking for veteran leadership in a young clubhouse. Lewis did note, however, that if it was a sentimental decision, it was most likely sentimental for Greinke. If that is the case, it makes sense. Greinke, who is closing in on 3 thousand career strikeouts, realizes that his career could be winding down, and if he isn’t going to win a World Series, what better way to try and get his 3 thousandth career strikeout by doing it with the team that drafted him. It definitely sounds like a storybook ending if that is Greinke’s goal.
While the Greinke singing is all fine and dandy for Royals fans, and Greinke admirers like me, it will likely throw a wrench in the plans of contending teams looking to fill a roster hole.
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