After shocking the baseball world by agreeing to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks last week, superstar pitcher Zack Greinke was introduced as part of a highly anticipated press conference Friday.
The 32-year-old righty put a bow on his new, six-year, $206.5 million contract by donning a D-backs jersey for the first time, as seen in this GIF, courtesy of Major League Baseball:
Many expected Greinke to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016 and beyond after enjoying the best season of his career, but he instead decided to join forces with an NL West rival.
Per MLB.com’s Joey Nowak, the prospect of signing with the Diamondbacks immediately appealed to Greinke: “As soon as (agent Casey Close) told me the D-backs called, it got me excited, and just went from there. It happened pretty fast, but it was a team I had a lot of experience with and knew really well, so it wasn’t like I needed a bunch of extra time to get to know people or get to know the city.”
According to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, however, the deal with Arizona nearly didn’t come to fruition:
Money obviously played a big role in Greinke’s decision, but he revealed Friday there were some other factors at work as well.
Per Gilbert, the former Cy Young Award winner views the Diamondbacks as a team on the rise after admiring their play last season:
More specifically, Greinke cited their aggressiveness as something that drew him toward the desert, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times:
It turns out the D-backs are also aggressive off of the field, as evidenced by their ability to poach Greinke from the Dodgers.
Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa also spoke at the press conference and explained the rationale behind throwing such a massive contract at Greinke, per Nowak: “We were looking for a true No. 1, a true leader of the staff that would take the ball on Opening Day, and every day in the toughest game (he) would want to be out there. We’re very fortunate. This young man’s in the midst of a great career, and now the next six years—he’ll be having them with us.”
Arizona has a great deal of ground to make up in 2016 as it finished 13 games behind the Dodgers, but landing Greinke is a move that should help close the gap.
He went 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA in 2015, and while it will be difficult to match that output, right away he becomes the ace Arizona has lacked for quite some time.
If Greinke can stabilize the pitching staff and pair it with a potentially dynamic offense that includes All-Stars Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock, then the Diamondbacks have a chance to be one of 2016’s breakout teams.
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