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Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke Working Out, Unsure About Continuing Playing Career

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After 20 Major League seasons, Zack Grienke might not yet be ready to hang up his cleats, as the veteran right-hander has been working out at the Diamondbacks’ extended Spring Training camp.  As Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes, this isn’t any indication of a contract between Greinke and the D’Backs, as the two sides are “not believed to have had discussions about a reunion.”  Instead, the D’Backs have simply let Greinke work out at their facilities as a courtesy while he figures out the next step in his career.

That is, if there is a next step at all, since Greinke was non-committal about what these workouts exactly represent.  “I don’t know if this will be my last time throwing or if I’ll throw the rest of the year and next year,” Greinke said.  “I don’t really know at the moment….I’m just throwing, seeing how it works out and going from there.”

Greinke’s most recent two-season run in Kansas City had something of the feel of a coda on his excellent career, as Greinke returned to the franchise that drafted him sixth overall in 2002.  Greinke’s first seven MLB seasons were spent in a Royals uniform, and highlighted with a tremendous 2009 season that saw him win the AL Cy Young Award.  In between those two stints with the Royals, Greinke pitched for five other teams, and his 714 2/3 innings with the Diamondbacks from 2016-19 mark the most he has thrown for any organization outside of Kansas City.

His form from 2020-22 represented a step down from his front-of-the-rotation peak, but it wasn’t until last season at age 39 that Greinke finally had a sharp drop in performance.  The righty posted a 5.06 ERA over 142 1/3 innings, and apart from a still-elite 3.9% walk rate, it seemed as though Greinke’s recent recipe of low velocity and low strikeout totals caught up to him.

According to reports during the offseason, Greinke finished the 2023 campaign considering retirement, but as of December was preparing to pitch again.  However, Greinke told Piecoro that he had only started properly throwing two weeks ago and at the behest of his two sons, and indicated that it had been a while since he had done any winter prep work.  “My arm feels decent at the moment.  I was trying to get as good as I could at golfing the past two months, and I was like, ’Why am I trying to be a pro golfer when I’m already kind of a pro baseball player?’  So I figured I’d throw a little and see how it goes,” Greinke said.

Since the Greinke family once again lives in Arizona, the right-hander reconnected with the Diamondbacks when his sons (who are “nonstop right now” in their interest in baseball) had interest in taking part in baseball activities on a genuine Spring Training field.  This has now snowballed into Greinke’s workouts, and a recent live batting practice session against four D’Backs players on injury rehab.  Greinke faced each of Geraldo Perdomo, Alek Thomas, Jordan Lawlar and Jorge Barrosa twice during the eight at-bat session, leaving the opponents impressed.

“I told one of the guys I think he could still pitch in the majors….For his change-up to look like that in his first live BP, just imagine when he gets into a rhythm and is ready,” Perdomo said.

It seems like there’s still a ways to go before Greinke is fully set on pursuing a return, let alone signing a contract and getting properly ramped up to the point that he can again pitch in a Major League game.  “Because it’s still early” in the process, Greinke said he hasn’t talked to his agent about exploring deals with teams.  On paper, the Diamondbacks would seem a logical candidate based on familiarity and comfort alone, plus Greinke would add a lot of veteran experience to a rotation that has lost Eduardo Rodriguez and Merrill Kelly to the 60-day IL.  Another return to Kansas City shouldn’t be ruled out, even through starting pitching has been a strength for the Royals in their sudden surge into contention.

Zack Greinke Preparing To Pitch In 2024

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The representatives for free agent right-hander Zack Greinke are telling teams that he is preparing to pitch in 2024 and open to contract talks, per a report from Jon Morosi of MLB.com. He was reportedly still undecided on his future as recently as last month but it now seems he has tilted towards returning for another season on the mound.

Now 40 years old, Greinke is no longer the ace he was for most of his career, but he’s still a serviceable veteran capable of logging some solid innings. In each of the past two offseasons, he has signed one-year deals with the Royals, the club that gave him his start. Kansas City drafted him in 2002 and he pitched for them at the big league level from 2004 to 2010. He then went on an odyssey around the league, jumping to the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Astros, before returning to Kansas City last year.

The 2022 campaign saw Greinke throw 137 innings with a 3.68 earned run average. He only struck out 12.5% of batters faced but limited walks to just a 4.6% clip and kept 41.3% of balls in play on the ground. His ERA jumped up to 5.06 this year, though his peripherals actually improved, with a 16.4% strikeout rate, 3.9% walk rate and 43.1% ground ball rate. But his strand rate went from 72.9% to 68.7% as a few more fly balls went over the fence, leading to a 4.74 FIP and 4.57 SIERA that paint a more flattering portrait.

It’s unclear how much interest Greinke would have in pitching for teams other than the Royals at this stage. He reportedly turned down similar offers from the Tigers and Twins prior to 2022, preferring to return to where his career began.

The Royals agreed to a deal with Seth Lugo today, adding him into the rotation mix alongside Cole Ragans, Brady Singer and Jordan Lyles, with guys like Daniel Lynch IV, Alec Marsh, Ángel Zerpa and others also in the mix.

General manager J.J. Picollo previously stated that the club could have around $30MM to spend in the offseason. The deal for Lugo, along with deals for Will Smith and Chris Stratton, have resulted in $24MM spent on upgrading the 2024 club. That suggests the budget might be getting a little tight, but it’s possible they can stretch it a bit. Greinke was given a guarantee of $13MM last year and a base of $8.5MM here in 2023, but there was also $7.5MM available in incentives, with Greinke eventually unlocking $4.5MM of those.

Perhaps the two sides could find a similar incentive-laden deal for 2024, allowing the club to further strengthen their pitching depth for the coming season. For Greinke personally, his career strikeout total currently sits at 2,979, just 21 punchouts away from the 3,000 milestone that only 19 pitchers have reached.

Picollo: Royals Have At Least $30 Million To Spend This Offseason

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The Royals have been relatively active over the first month of the offseason, inking one of the four free agent position players to sign so far this winter and trading for two pitchers ahead of the non-tender deadline in November. Still, the front office has plenty of work to do if the team is going to improve upon a 56-106 record in 2024. On Monday, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo spoke with members of the media at the Winter Meetings to discuss the team’s plans for the remainder of the offseason.

Most notably, Picollo revealed that he has at least $30MM to spend in free agency (as relayed by Jaylon Thompson of The Kansas City Star). That could bring the team’s 2024 payroll just over $100MM, a total the Royals have not surpassed since 2019. What’s more, the executive suggested he could spend beyond that estimate for the right players.

Presumably, Picollo will use most of his budget to improve a pitching staff that finished second-last in the AL in ERA, SIERA, and FanGraphs WAR last season. He specified that he would like to acquire one starting pitcher and two relievers, one of whom would hopefully step into the closer’s role.

While Picollo didn’t identify any particular targets, he stated on MLB Network Radio that the Royals “can be competitive” in the price range several free agent starting pitchers have already signed for. Presumably, he’s not referring to Aaron Nola and Sonny Gray, but instead the next tier down. That means pitchers like Kyle Gibson, Kenta Maeda, Luis Severino, Nick Martinez, and Lance Lynn, all of whom signed for an annual average salary in the $11MM to $13MM range.

During his appearance on MLB Network Radio, Picollo also touched on the non-monetary side of free agent negotiations. Factors beyond money are particularly relevant for a rebuilding team like the Royals, as they try to convince free agents they are an attractive destination despite their recent string of losing seasons. “When you’re recruiting free agents they want to know what your plan is,” he said. “So our process has got to be pretty deep and thorough because we’re really selling those players on what we can do for them.”

One name on many fans’ minds is Zack Greinke, who became a free agent following the 2023 season. According to Picollo (and as relayed by Thompson), the Royals are still waiting to hear if the six-time All-Star plans to retire this winter. While he isn’t the star he used to be during his first run with Kansas City, Greinke has been a reliable innings eater for the Royals over the last two seasons, pitching 279 1/3 innings with a 4.38 ERA. Given his popularity within the organization, his solid performance over the past two years, and the team’s lack of pitching depth, one would think the Royals would be interested if Greinke decided to pitch again in 2024, but Picollo stopped short of confirming as much.

He did, however, confirm that MJ Melendez will continue to play the outfield next season. The 25-year-old was once one of the top catching prospects in baseball, but he transitioned to a full-time outfield role this past season. His defense never stood out behind the plate, where he was blocked in the Royals organization by Salvador Perez anyhow. With the emergence of backup catcher Freddy Fermin, and with the way Melendez improved at the plate after he stopped catching in 2023, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the Royals are going to keep him in the outfield going forward.

Finally, Picollo revealed that first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino is ready to return to normal baseball activities over the winter after missing the final four months of the 2023 season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. According to Thompson, the team will provide further information on his status during today’s media session.

Zack Greinke Undecided On Future

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Six-time All-Star Zack Greinke is still mulling whether he’ll continue his career in 2024, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo told Jon Morosi of MLB.com at this week’s GM Meetings. The former Cy Young winner and likely Hall of Famer turned 40 in October.

Greinke has spent the past two seasons pitching with Kansas City — the same team that drafted and developed him. It’s been a full-circle homecoming and feel-good story for a lot of Royals fans, though the 2023 season didn’t go nearly as well as the 2022 campaign. In Greinke’s return to K.C. back in ’22, he tossed 137 innings of 3.68 ERA ball. That earned run average spiked to 5.06 over the life of 142 1/3 innings in 2023 — a season that saw Greinke post a 2-15 record. That mark has as much to do with a dismal Royals roster as it does with Greinke’s overall performance, but it surely wasn’t what Greinke envisioned heading into the year.

A return for his age-40 season afford Greinke the chance to reach at least one major milestone. He’s currently sitting at 2979 strikeouts in his career, and while he’s not the prolific strikeout artist he once was, he’d have no issue getting to 3000 if he returned for another full season. He’d become just the 20th pitcher in Major League history to reach that esteemed mark.

At this stage of his career, it’s not clear whether Greinke would have an appetite for pitching anywhere other than in Kansas City. He reportedly turned down similar, if not larger offers from the Twins and Tigers in the 2021-22 offseason, preferring to go back home to where his career began. He wasn’t connected to any other teams last offseason before returning to the Royals on another one-year deal. Greinke earned a $13MM base salary with the Royals in 2022 and an $8.5MM base last year — though he picked up another $4.5MM of incentives based on his innings total. Presumably, he’d be in line for a lesser base salary if he opts to return, though an agreement could have a similar incentives package based on starts and/or innings pitched.

From a team vantage point, bringing Greinke back to soak up some innings and give fans a few more memories could make sense. The Royals have struggled immensely to develop pitchers. Their vaunted crop of college arms from the 2018-20 draft classes simply hasn’t panned out to date, with only Brady Singer finding a full season’s worth of above-average production at any point. That came in 2022, but Singer took a pronounced step back in 2023. Fellow highly touted college picks like Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic and Asa Lacy have yet to emerge as viable big league starters.

Kansas City does look to have unearthed a gem in plucking Cole Ragans from the Rangers in this past summer’s Aroldis Chapman trade. The former first-rounder turned in a 2.64 ERA and 31.1% strikeout rate in 12 starts following the trade. In doing so, he locked up a 2024 rotation spot. Singer and Lynch also figure to get looks, and Kansas City still has Jordan Lyles under contract through the ’24 season as well. Greinke could eat up some innings beyond that quartet while taking pressure off some still-developing starters — if he chooses to continue his career, of course.

The Opener: Padres, Greinke, Seager/McCormick

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As the end of the regular season draws near, here are three things to keep an eye on around baseball:

1. Padres facing elimination

As the Padres shut out the Giants last night at Oracle Park, San Francisco was officially eliminated from postseason contention. Now, with one game remaining between the division rivals, the Giants have a chance to return the favor. The Padres are on their last legs, with an elimination number of one.

The Padres have certainly made things interesting in September, going 16-7 – the best record in baseball – to keep their playoff hopes alive. Unfortunately for San Diego, it’s looking like their efforts were too little too late. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Friars (and the rest of the NL Wild Card race) to see if they can pull off a miraculous comeback.

2. Greinke asks for the ball

As Zack Greinke walked off the field last night at Comerica Park, reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com) noticed he asked for the ball. In doing so, the 20-year MLB veteran signaled he might finally be thinking about retirement. When he left the game, Greinke was in line for the win, having just completed what was arguably his best performance of the year. Presumably, he was thinking he might have just won the final game of his excellent career. (Unfortunately, the Royals went on to lose 6-3.)

The six-time All-Star hasn’t directly expressed any desire to hang up his hat, but Greinke is hardly the type to go on a long and drawn-out retirement tour. Indeed, as he comes to the end of an injury-plagued and difficult season, it wouldn’t be surprising if retirement was on his mind. His 5.18 ERA is the highest it’s been since 2005, and the soon-to-be 40-year-old has spent multiple stints on the IL nursing pain in his elbow and shoulder.

Greinke is in line to make one last start this year, as he closes out the Royals’ season on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Perhaps he or the organization will further discuss his future in the coming days.

3. Seager, McCormick dealing with contusions

Two key players in the AL West race were hit by pitches last night: Corey Seager of the Rangers and Chas McCormick of the Astros. Both Seager and McCormick exited their respective games, but neither appears to be headed for a stint on the injured list.

Seager was hit in the wrist with a 93-mph fastball from Reid Detmers. He remained in the game and took his place at first base, but he was replaced the following inning. After the game, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today) that the star shortstop’s x-rays were negative; thankfully, his wrist is not fractured. The team is calling his injury a right forearm contusion.

As for McCormick, he was hit in the left side with a 99-mph fastball from Andrés Muñoz. He was unable to remain in the game, and manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) that he isn’t sure if the young outfielder will be able to play in today’s series finale with the Mariners. The Astros have labeled his injury a left side/lower back contusion.

The Rangers are trying to put away the AL West, while the Astros are fighting off the Mariners for the final postseason berth in the American League. Amid the playoff race, both Seager and McCormick are enjoying the best seasons of their careers.

Royals Place Zack Greinke On Injured List

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The Royals have placed right-hander Zack Greinke on the 15-day injured list, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com, with right posterior elbow soreness. The move is retroactive to yesterday. Left-hander Taylor Hearn was recalled in a corresponding move.

Greinke, 39, has an extensive track record of major league success but is struggling through one of the worst seasons of his career. He’s allowing 5.53 earned runs per nine innings, striking out just 15.8% of batters faced. He hasn’t had huge strikeout totals for a few years now, relying more on limiting hard contact, but that’s proved to be more challenging this year. His 8.6% barrel rate is the worst of his career, as is the 89.5 mph average exit velocity he’s allowed. 17.2% of fly balls he’s allowed are leaving the yard, one of the worst such rates of his career.

It’s unclear how long Greinke is expected to be out, but the club will have to operate without him for at least the next two weeks. That will leave them with a rotation of Brady Singer, Cole Ragans, Jordan Lyles and Alec Marsh. They are currently in a stretch of 12 straight games, with their next off-day not until Sunday. That means they will need a fifth starter, or a bullpen game, at some point between now and then. Max Castillo and Jonathan Bowlan are each on the 40-man roster though they both have ERAs above 5.00 in Triple-A this year.

Greinke is currently sitting on 2,995 career strikeouts. Just five more will allow him to hit the 3,000 milestone, something that only 19 other pitchers have ever done in history. Royals fans, and baseball fans in general, will hope that he returns to health in time to hit that incredible marker.

Hearn will be making his Royals debut whenever he gets into a game, as he was just acquired from Atlanta prior to the deadline. He has a 3.37 ERA in the minors this year, tossing 42 2/3 innings between the two organizations. He’s struck out 30.1% of opponents in that time but walked 12.8%.

Royals Place Zack Greinke On Injured List

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The Royals placed Zack Greinke on the 15-day injured list this afternoon, recalling reliever Dylan Coleman to take the vacated roster spot. Greinke is dealing with shoulder tendinitis.

It doesn’t seem to be a particularly serious issue. Anne Rogers of MLB.com relays (0n Twitter) that the Royals are hopeful Greinke may only have to skip one turn through the rotation thanks to the upcoming All-Star Break. That suggests a minimal IL stint is a possibility, though he’ll meet with a doctor tomorrow to determine the next steps in his recovery.

Greinke’s absence is unlikely to change the Royals’ fortunes much. At 25-61, Kansas City looks ticketed for a last-place finish in the AL Central and a bottom three showing in MLB. It could have some implications for the trade market if he’s not able to return around the time he’s first eligible. Greinke is respected enough to draw some attention from other clubs this summer, even as he carries a 5.44 ERA thanks to a pair of clunkers in his last three starts.

Players on the injured list can still be traded, so Greinke would be able to move even if he’s not back on the mound by August 1. That seems unlikely, though, especially since K.C. would probably only move him if the six-time All-Star seeks a trade. Greinke has signed with the Royals on successive one-year contracts the past two seasons, preferring to return to the place where he began his career over two decades ago. He is playing this season on an $8.5MM salary and could almost double that mark via an innings-based incentive package.

Royals Re-Sign Zack Greinke

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FEBRUARY 6: Heyman today provided more specifics of the incentives on Twitter. Greinke will get that $8.5MM guarantee, then $450K for getting to 90 innings pitched and every five innings thereafter up until 135. At 140 innings pitched, he gets a further $300K and keeps adding that amount at each five-inning interval until 185.

FEBRUARY 3: The Royals officially announced Greinke’s new deal.  According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link), Greinke will earn $8.5MM in guaranteed money, with up to $7.5MM more available in incentives.

JANUARY 30: The Royals have reached agreement on a one-year contract to bring back veteran starter Zack Greinke, according to Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand hears that the deal will be worth $8-10MM in base salary, plus performance-based bonuses. Greinke is a client of Excel Sports Management.

Greinke began his professional career with the Royals way back in 2002 as the No. 6 overall pick in that year’s MLB Draft. He made his big league debut in KC in 2004 and spent his first seven seasons there, highlighted by an AL Cy Young Award win in 2009. Following successful stints with the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Astros between 2011-2021, the eccentric right-hander returned to his old stomping grounds in 2022 and worked to a 3.68 ERA in 26 starts covering 137 innings.

His paltry 4.8 K/9 last year was a career-low and ranked as the worst K/9 of all 90 major league pitchers who logged at least 130 innings over the course of the 2022 regular season. But the 39-year-old showed terrific control (1.8 BB/9) and was generally able to induce more soft contact than hard contact to help pave over his diminished swing-and-miss stuff. Among the 585 total batters he faced during the 2022 campaign, Greinke surrendered only 14 home runs. That worked out to a 0.92 HR/9, putting him right around rising studs like Nestor Cortes, Logan Gilbert, Ranger Suarez and George Kirby.

Greinke can hopefully again serve as an innings-eater and clubhouse mentor for a Royals rotation that has undergone a few offseason changes but will still be relying on a lot of youth pushing forward. Brady Singer, 26, stands out as somebody who made significant gains in 2022, perhaps thanks in part to Greinke’s tutelage. Brad Keller, 27, and Daniel Lynch, 27, could use a similar type of molding.

Greinke figures to be named the Opening Day starter for the Royals in 2023, as he was last year. Singer and Keller project to fall in somewhere behind him, along with newcomers Jordan Lyles and Ryan Yarbrough. Kansas City finished 27th among all 30 teams in combined starter ERA (4.76) in 2022, despite Greinke’s contributions and Singer’s mini-breakout. KC’s combined starter K/9 of 6.9 ranked 28th.

Royals Optimistic About Re-Signing Zack Greinke

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Right-hander Zack Greinke signed with the Royals in 2022, returning to the club that drafted him in 2002 and for whom he pitched from 2004 through 2010. The club has reportedly been interested in bringing him back for 2023 since before the offseason even officially began. There’s now less than three weeks until Spring Training and Greinke is still unsigned but Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that the club still wants to re-sign him and is confident about their chances of doing so.

Greinke, 39, was once one of the most dominant pitchers in the league, especially in that earlier stint in Kansas City. The highlight of that tenure was a 2009 season where Greinke tossed 229 1/3 innings over 33 starts with a 2.16 ERA. That showing was strong enough for him to win the American League Cy Young award that year. Since then, he’s gone on to pitch for the Brewers, Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Astros before returning to the Royals last season. He’s now tossed over 3,000 innings with a 3.42 ERA over his career.

Though he averaged just under 95 mph on his fastball when he first debuted, he’s gradually transitioned into a soft-tossing control artist. He averaged just over 89 mph on his heater last year, which ranked him 541st out of the 602 pitchers to throw at least 250 pitches, according to Statcast. Despite that diminished velocity, he still found ways to be quite effective on the mound. He made 26 starts and logged 137 frames in 2022, finishing the year with a 3.68 ERA. The pitching-friendly nature of Kauffman Stadium surely helped somewhat, but he also kept his walks down to a tiny 4.6% rate and was in the 60th percentile in terms of missing barrels.

Despite the ongoing interest from the club, a deal has yet to come together, perhaps for financial reasons. Reporting from a couple of weeks ago indicated the Royals were hoping to get Greinke back via some kind of incentive-laden deal, perhaps with a lower guarantee than in 2022, which was for $13MM plus $2MM of incentives. However, it’s possible that the club’s perspective on the financial situation has changed recently. Since that report, the club has agreed to terms with Aroldis Chapman on a deal with a $3.75MM guarantee, but also traded Michael A. Taylor to the Twins for minor leaguers and Adalberto Mondesi to the Red Sox for Josh Taylor. Michael A. Taylor is going to make $4.5MM this year while Mondesi will make $3.045MM and Josh Taylor $1.025MM. Those moves combined saved the club about $3MM in salary commitments, which they could perhaps then use to help get Greinke to put pen to paper. Roster Resource pegs their 2023 payroll at $103MM, a jump from last year’s Opening Day figure of $95MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

If Greinke comes back to Kansas City for another year, he’ll hopefully provide some stability to a rotation that doesn’t currently have much of it. The club signed 32-year-old Jordan Lyles earlier in the offseason to give them one reliable veteran. Brady Singer should have another rotation spot spoken for after a breakout campaign last year. It seems like Ryan Yarbrough will be given a shot to grab a starting job after signing for a $3MM guarantee, though he spent a decent amount of time as a long reliever with the Rays and could be bumped back to that kind of role again. Brad Keller has lots of starting experience but got bumped to the bullpen in the second half of last year and finished with a 5.09 ERA for the season. Daniel Lynch was a 34th overall selection in the 2018 draft but has a 5.32 ERA for his career so far. It’s a similar story for other high draft picks like Kris Bubic and Jackson Kowar, who have career ERAs of 4.89 and 10.76, respectively.

No other clubs have been previously connected to Greinke this offseason besides the Royals, though Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports today that the Orioles spoke with him at one point. The O’s have been on the hunt for starting pitching all winter and are reportedly still looking for upgrades, though Rosenthal says they’re not confident about landing Greinke.

Royals Hoping For Incentive-Laden Deal With Zack Greinke

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The Royals have made a pair of relatively low-cost additions to their rotation this offseason. Ryan Yarbrough inked a $3MM guarantee in mid-December, while Jordan Lyles secured a two-year, $17MM commitment a couple weeks later.

Those veteran starters join younger, in-house hurlers like Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, Max Castillo and Kris Bubic in the rotation mix for first-year skipper Matt Quatraro. It also raises the possibility that Kansas City’s top free agent of the winter, Zack Greinke, heads elsewhere. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports that while Kansas City remains open to bringing Grienke back, the six-time All-Star would likely have to take an incentive-laden contract to return. Such a deal would have a relatively low base salary that’d allow him to unlock bonuses at various innings thresholds.

At the start of November, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Greinke was planning to return to the majors for a 20th season. Heyman wrote at the time Kansas City was hoping to bring the former Cy Young winner back. There was no indication then anything between the Royals and Greinke’s representatives at Excel Sports Management was close. No other team has been substantively linked to the right-hander throughout the offseason.

Greinke began his professional career with K.C. as the sixth overall pick in the 2002 draft. He starred in Kansas City not long after debuting at age 20 in 2004, going on to win the Cy Young after leading the majors with a 2.16 ERA a few years later. Greinke spent parts of seven seasons with the Royals before being dealt to the Brewers in a 2010-11 offseason blockbuster. He’d spend the next decade solidifying a strong Hall of Fame résumé while pitching for Milwaukee, the Angels, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Astros before returning to free agency last winter.

Kansas City brought Greinke back on a one-year, $13MM guarantee that contained an additional $2MM in potential incentives. Teams like the Twins and Tigers reportedly showed strong interest as well, but Greinke relished the opportunity to return to his original organization.

During his return season to Kaufmann Stadium, the 39-year-old threw 137 innings over 26 starts. He posted a solid 3.68 ERA, largely on the strength of his typically excellent control. Greinke only walked 4.6% of batters faced, the 13th-lowest mark among 140 pitchers with 100+ innings. No pitcher within that group had a lower strikeout percentage than Greinke’s 12.5% rate, while his 7.3% striking strike rate is fourth from the bottom. Greinke’s fastball now sits around 89 MPH and he’s a pitch-to-contact control artist.

While he’s now best suited for back-of-the-rotation work, there’s little question Greinke is still a major league caliber hurler. He hasn’t had an ERA above 4.16 in any of the last six seasons. He had a pair of injured list stints related to forearm discomfort last year but still managed to top 25 starts for the 14th consecutive 162-game season. On top of the value he could bring to younger pitchers in the clubhouse, he remains a solid innings eater for teams seeking to bolster their back end.

Kansas City could fit Greinke onto the roster even after bringing in Yarbrough and Lyles. Only Singer has firmly seized a rotation role among the team’s young starters. Yarbrough has struggled for the past couple seasons and could fairly easily move to long relief himself. The bigger question seems to be finances. The Royals presently project for a payroll in the $86MM range, per Roster Resource. Cot’s Baseball Contracts pegged them around $95MM to start last season, but K.C. general manager J.J. Picollo indicated at the outset of the offseason the club was dealing with budgetary limitations.

Greinke is one of the top starters who remains unsigned. Aside from Michael Wacha, no free agent starter who hasn’t agreed to terms is coming off a better 2022 campaign. Perhaps Greinke is willing to take an incentive-laden deal to return to K.C. — particularly given his strong track record of staying healthy and amassing plenty of innings — but Rosenthal’s report suggests it wouldn’t be a surprise if another club is willing to beat whatever guarantee the Royals put on the table.

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