Zack Greinke is having another terrific season and would be a nice addition for a contending team in need of starting rotation help, but his salary makes him a bit less appealing. If any team is interested in acquiring the right-hander, the Arizona Diamondbacks are willing to help remedy that issue.
Greinke, who will turn 36 in October, is still owed $80 million over the next two-plus seasons. Jon Heyman of Fancred said Friday that the D-Backs could be willing to eat as much as $10 million a year to move Greinke, but he can block a trade to 15 teams and may want to remain in Arizona.
Belief is that if they sell Dbacks would be willing to pay down — perhaps by 10M/year — the 80M remaining on Greinke through 2021, depending the return of course. Greinke remains a top starter, but wIth 15-team no-trade list and belief he prefers to stay, deal not overly likely.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 19, 2019
If Greinke doesn’t want to be traded, he probably won’t be. No-trade lists typically include contending teams, so we can assume several of the clubs that might be interested in him are on that list.
Greinke is set to make $32 million in each of the next two seasons. Despite his age, he has an impressive 10-4 record and 2.95 ERA this season. He has also been incredibly durable, making 30 or more starts in four of the past five seasons.
The Diamondbacks traded Paul Goldschmidt over the winter but committed to not blowing up their roster, and they actually remain in the playoff hunt. They’re only 1.5 games back in the NL wild card race, but they would almost certainly take advantage of an opportunity to move Greinke if the right offer came along.
