Dodgers News: Front Office Role On Zack Greinke’s Radar

As one of the more cerebral players in the Majors, Zack Greinke spends plenty of time reviewing scouting reports, closely watching other players and teams, and taking an interest in the MLB Draft. MLB Network cameras showed the right-hander sitting in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ draft room, which is the second year he’s been involved in the selection process at an arm’s distance.

Greinke gave his stamp of approval on shortstop prospect Corey Seager, recently discussed the improvement and strides Joc Pederson has made, and also complimented the Dodgers’ 2015 draft selections. While Greinke is of course more closely tied to the MLB Draft, it isn’t the only one he follows, according to Bill Plunkett of the OC Register:

I’m interested in all of that, not just baseball – the NBA draft, NFL draft,” he said. “I like watching rookies. It’s more about just the human body maturing and how they develop. It’s more that than just seeing if I’m good at that (projecting). Maybe it started out me trying to figure out the best way for me to develop and it’s still kind of interesting to me.”

Transitioning into a front office after his playing career comes to an end is something Greinke said he’s given thought to, but he has reservations due to the demanding schedule:

I’ve thought about what I’m going to do after baseball for probably the past 10 years now and that’s always been one of the possibilities,” Greinke, 31, said. “A lot of that depends on family and if I’d be willing to be away from family as much as it takes to do a job like that. Especially to do a job like that well, it takes a lot of time. And if you get pretty high up in the front office, it takes a lot of time. You’re pretty much saying goodbye to your family.”

At 31 years old (32 on Oct. 21), Greinke’s post-playing life presumably isn’t another handful of years away. Before he’ll make any decisions on potentially assuming a general manager role, Greinke must first decide if he’ll opt out of his contract with the Dodgers after the 2015 season.

Should he elect to do so, Greinke will leave a guaranteed $78 million on the table over three years. For comparison’s sake, James Shields signed a four-year, $75 million contract with the San Diego Padres at age 33, and Jon Lester inked a six-year, $155 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.

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