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The narrative was a little too perfect. The Dodgers and Giants, fighting each other for NL West supremacy, each vying for Zack Greinke. This could tip the balance in the NL West! Who would commit to the sixth year? Who would top $200 million?
Never count out the ℳ⋎⫓⫪⋶®⋎ ⊤⋸∀⫙, though. Never, ever count them out.
Sources: #DBacks pursuing Greinke.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2015
Oh, man. As much as I would laugh if the Dodgers lost one of their best pitchers, this is almost as bad, somehow. The Diamondbacks have a compelling-if-top-heavy lineup, if you haven't noticed, and they're just waiting for the pitching to come along. And if you dangle six years and $200 million or so, oh, pitching will probably come along.
If you're wondering how the Diamondbacks can afford Greinke, note that they signed a $1.5 billion TV deal earlier this year. It wouldn't be an unreasonable time to spend, considering the talent of Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock. Build that brand now, Diamondbacks. Build that brand.
The conventional wisdom suggests that the Giants and Dodgers are still the frontrunners, but the Diamondbacks did offer Johnny Cueto a sizeable contract earlier this offseason, so maybe their offseason plan is essentially the same as the Giants': buy a fancy pitcher.
That would be some extraordinarily dumb timing.
So that's the rumor of the hour: four words, lots of anarchy. At least he wouldn't be on the Dodgers? Question mark?