Dodgers Losing Greinke Was One Of The “Worst Decisions” Of Offseason
Many people have seen this offseason as one that the Los Angeles Dodgers ultimately failed at despite them adding free agent pitchers Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda. It’s namely viewed that way because they weren’t able to re-sign Cy Young Award runner-up Zack Greinke. But was it one of the worst decisions by any team this offseason?
Well, according to the fine people over at Cheat Sheet dot com, it’s on that list of the “The 3 Worst Decisions We’ve Seen This Offseason.” Fair or not, it’s certainly something that is interesting to look back on and wonder about.
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From Bob Garcia over at Cheat Sheet dot com:
What this move does more than anything else is set the team back in the immediate future. They were able to recover a bit with the signing of Kazmir and Kenta Maeda, but neither matches the caliber of pitcher that Greinke has become.
Before we get started on this topic, the other two things that were on the list were the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim failing to sign a capable everyday left fielder and the Baltimore Orioles giving Chris Davis a hefty contract rather than fixing their pitching concerns. But we’re here to talk about the Dodgers, not them.
While it’s true that losing Greinke is a huge blow to the team in the short term, it could also be viewed as a major boon in the long-term. Greinke is 32 years old, and the life of his contract will take him until he’s 38 years old. That’s a hefty price for any team to pay, and you can’t fault the Dodgers for passing on that.
Sure, losing Greinke might impact their ability to win a World Series in 2016, but you could just as well argue that having him on the payroll could hamper their title chances in the future, as well. This isn’t just a short play, but rather one that examines the whole picture rather than what’s right in front of your face.
Would Greinke’s services be helpful this coming season? Absolutely. But to call it one of the “worst decisions we’ve seen this offseason” reeks of something entirely different. It’s all in the eye of the beholder. For instance, one could choose to see that giving Greinke six years and $206.5 million as a terrible decision and might not be wrong, given the history of similar deals handed out at his age. It just depends on how you look at it.
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The front office is smart in that they are avoiding expensive long-term contracts and unloading these types of contracts of their own (i.e Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier).
The Dodgers have ton of prospects and young players in their farm system that are ready to make an impact the major league level. In fact, they already have young players from their farm system making an impact. They need to be thinking about long-term and creating a dynasty instead of fielding an all-veteran team that will quickly deteriorate in a few seasons.
Actually, Greinke signing with the D-bags will be the worst decision of his life. And he can cry all the way to the bank.
They would have never signed Grienke. He said in the interview that he felt the Diamondbacks had a better chance to win then the Dodgers because of their line up and their athleticism.
Furthermore, the worst decisions the Dodgers made was trading Dee Gordon. Just think how good they would have been with him leading off last year. He batted almost .350.
Furthermore, there is no way Grienke will have an ERA as low as this past year because he is pitching in Arizona not LA. He will be frustrated because a lot of this fly outs will be extra basehits and home runs.