The National League’s biggest blood feud is moving to a new battleground this winter: the free agent market.
The Giants and Dodgers, two old rivals who have combined to win eight of the last nine NL West championships, are fighting it out again. Though this time it isn’t the division that’s up for grabs, but rather one of the best pitchers on the market in Zack Greinke.
It’s widely assumed that the two teams are the front runners for Greinke’s services, with the Dodgers looking to keep their imposing one-two punch together while the Giants are trying to create one. And at a rumored price tag of $30 million per year or more, Greinke isn’t coming cheap. But he makes so much sense for both clubs it’s easy to justify the cost.
For the Dodgers, the fit is obvious. Greinke combined with Clayton Kershaw to give Los Angeles the best top of the rotation in the league last year, finishing 2-3 in the Cy Young race and both finishing in the top 10 of the MVP race. Losing Greinke would create a huge hole in the rotation; granted, the Dodgers would probably just throw money at another free agent pitcher, but Greinke just finished a historic season and has been tremendous for the Dodgers over the past three years. Plus, the rest of the rotation behind the big two isn’t exactly murderer’s row. They need a pitcher of Greinke’s caliber to slot behind Kershaw.
The Giants are in the same boat, though their situation is a little different. They have their ace in Madison Bumgarner, but there’s no one else comparable to him in the rotation. The Giants struggled to find any consistency with their pitching last year yet still remained in contention through late September. If they had someone like Greinke (or, Greinke himself) going every fifth day, their chances of making it back to October would have been much better. And with an already dangerous offense returning to full strength next year, upgrading the rotation with one of the best pitchers in the game would seem to make the Giants prohibitive favorites in the National League.
Greinke comes with risks, including his age (32) and the fact that he’s experienced elbow discomfort a few times over the past three years. Plus, $30 million per year is just a lot of money to commit to a pitcher no matter how you look at it. But Greinke may be the rare elite pitcher who won’t lose much with age, considering he doesn’t rely on velocity to get batters out.
And if history is any indication, the Giants may be more willing to take the risk. They’ve never shied away from adding veterans to their team and Greinke seems to fit their mold perfectly. Plus they have money to burn, a product of three championships since 2010, their debt on AT&T Park ending soon, and a new line of cash flow coming from a retail development project that San Francisco voters just passed overwhelmingly. If they think Greinke is the key to getting back to the Series, expect the Giants to pull out all the stops.
On the other hand, the Dodgers’ new front office regime may be more hesitant to commit so many years and so much money to a pitcher on the wrong side of 30. There’s not a lot of history to go on, but they seem to favor younger, controllable talent above all else. Though it’s impossible to discount the fact that the Dodgers have more money than anyone else in baseball and may favor continuity above all else. If that’s the case, it’s unlikely they’ll let themselves be outbid for Greinke, especially by their rivals.
The Giants-Dodgers rivalry is always good for a few memorable moments each year, and now they’re poised to add another one. But this time, it’s not a walk off homer or a shutout – it’s a massive contract about to be handed to one of the game’s premier pitchers. One thing remains the same, though: the stakes. Wherever Greinke ends up, expect the balance of power in the NL West to come with him.
