Zack Greinke

THURSDAY: Greinke will hire an agent if he reaches free agency next winter, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.  The right-hander is open to discussing a long-term deal with the Brewers on his own.  Michael Weiner of the MLBPA told Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio that he's not concerned that Greinke doesn't have an agent (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY: Zack Greinke plans to hire an agent, ESPN's Jim Bowden learned after talking with the Brewers righty on Sunday.  Greinke, one of the biggest names eligible for free agency after the 2012 season, has been without an agent for several months after leaving CAA.  According to Bowden, Greinke is expected to consider hiring Brodie Van Wagenen of CAA, Casey Close of Excel Sports Management, Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group, and Seth Levinson of ACES.  With a potential $100MM contract on the way, competition will be fierce to represent Greinke.

In February, Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Bowden he and owner Mark Attanasio plan to discussion an extension with Greinke this spring.

Zack Greinke doesn't see the need for an agent currently, but Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel not to read into that.  "I think he may end up doing a lot of this himself. Then, if it gets to a serious nature, he might get somebody to help," said Melvin.

Melvin said he first needs to talk to owner Mark Attanasio before he discusses a possible extension with Greinke.  The GM implied he'd prefer not to talk contract during the season.  Melvin cited four signed pitchers who I assume he considers comparable to Greinke; let's look more closely at each situation.

• Greinke, 28, has a 3.82 ERA over 1279 2/3 career innings, though his 8.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, as well as his 2009 Cy Young award, suggest he's better than his ERA.  A deal for Greinke would entirely cover free agent seasons, a key difference compared to some of the other contracts Melvin mentioned.  Greinke would have been a free agent after the 2010 season had he not signed a four-year, $38MM deal with the Royals in '09.  He's already made big money, unlike the comparables Melvin listed.  We don't know if that will give Greinke the security to seek top dollar or compel him to do the exact opposite.
• Jered Weaver, a Scott Boras client, signed a five-year, $85MM extension with the Angels in August.  The contract included his final year of arbitration, so it was $70MM over four free agent years, a $17.5MM average annual value.  Weaver was also 28 at the time of the signing, and he had better career numbers than Greinke.  Two factors suppressed Weaver's price and term significantly: he strongly preferred to stay close to home, and he was a year and a month away from free agency.  Cole Hamels' agent has already stated the Weaver contract won't be a comparable, and Greinke might choose to toss it out as well.
• Justin Verlander, a client of SFX Baseball, signed a five-year, $80MM deal, and Felix Hernandez, an Octagon client, signed a five-year, $78MM deal.  Both contracts covered two arbitration years and three free agent seasons, making them even worse comparables for Greinke.  Verlander received $20MM per free agent year and Hernandez got $19.3MM.  Verlander was coming off a better season than Greinke is, though he still had a 3.92 caree ERA at the time of signing.
• C.J. Wilson, a client of Select Sports Group, recently signed a five-year, $77.5MM deal with the Angels.  Like Weaver, it appeared Wilson took less money because of his desire to play for the Halos.  Wilson's contract was signed on the open market following two seasons as a starting pitcher.  This seems closest to a legitimate comparable for Greinke, among the contracts Melvin named.

Despite the differences in service time in these comparables, the fact remains that Melvin cited a bunch of five-year deals in the $80MM range.  The Brewers' ceiling probably isn't much higher.  If Greinke is confident he can post a mid-3.00s ERA over 200 innings in 2012, he can land a six-year deal exceeding $100MM on the open market, even with the draft pick cost attached and possible competition from Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, and Anibal Sanchez.  And if Greinke doesn't go for a typical agency relationship, he'll save millions on commission.

Brewers ace Zack Greinke is still operating without an agent, but that does not necessarily scuttle the chances of a contract extension, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.  Greinke is entering the final season of the four-year, $38MM extension he signed in with the Royals in January of 2009.

"I’ll talk to them about it," the 28-year-old said.  "I don’t really want to talk to anyone else about it. But I like the business of baseball. It’s exciting for me. It’s not like I plan on being my agent, but it is exciting being able to know what’s going on behind the scenes."

The 28-year-old left CAA last spring and does not currently have a representative.  Greinke sounded open to signing on with another agency when discussing the matter.

Brewers right-hander Zack Greinke is an extension candidate and he projects as one of the top free agents of the 2012-13 offseason, but he doesn't have an agent. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports that the 28-year-old left CAA last spring and does not currently have a representative (all Twitter links). 

Greinke posted a 3.83 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 47.3% ground ball rate in 171 2/3 innings for the Brewers in 2011, his first campaign in the National League. Crasnick cautions against reading too much into the fact that the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner doesn't have an agent, though it's certainly unusual. We can be sure that many agents would like to represent Greinke as he considers extension offers and nears free agency. Visit MLBTR's agency database for updates on player representatives around baseball.