As the winter general managers meetings take place in California, one player that will be on many executives' minds is starting pitcher Zack Greinke.
Top flight pitching is a premium for teams looking to re-tool in the offseason and Greinke is the best starting pitcher available on the market.
After being traded twice in the past two years, Greinke is looking to cash in on a long-term contract that will take him to the latter stages of his career. According to a report from John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus, "Zack Greinke's asking price is six and $150M according to someone who knows these things."
While that price tag is high, it might be low enough for some of the big market teams to make offers that Greinke would be interested in. The top teams in contention for Greinke are the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Nationals.
The Texas Rangers are the favorites in the race right now, due to the fact that the team has shown they are willing to spend money on top talent.
The team dished out over $100 million on Japanese starter Yu Darvish last year and the Rangers will be looking to improve after a disappointing collapse at the end of the season. The team was swept by the Oakland A's to lose out on the AL West division title, then fell to the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card round.
The Rangers have a solid staff with Darvish, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando, but they are still missing a true No. 1 starter. The team plans to move Ogando from the bullpen to the starting rotation in 2013.
According to Sports Illustrated,
"In preparation for the departure of (Josh) Hamilton, the Rangers are studying the idea of reinforcing the rotation with Ogando and Greinke, then addressing the critical needs of bullpen and catcher. They will likely be dealing with a payroll of around $120 million, which is approximately what they spent in 2012."
Another interesting landing spot for Greinke is with the Washington Nationals.
Two years ago the team tried to acquire the right-hander and had a $100 million contract extension on the table, but Greinke rejected the deal. At the time, the Nationals were one of the worst teams in the league and finished a season with 93 losses.
"Maybe it works out better that the deal [with Washington] didn't go through," Greinke told Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post back then. "In two years I might be a free agent, and then they get to keep the players [who would have been] in the trade. And some of those guys could end up being key players for them."
Things are different this time around. The Nationals were one of the best teams in baseball last season and won the National League East for the first time. The team has proven they are willing to spend money (Jason Werth's contract) and that they are committed to winning in the future (ex. Shutting down Stephen Strasburg).
"It wouldn't have gotten as far as it did [with the Nationals] if it wasn't appealing," Greinke said back then. "The one thing I couldn't get over was the fact that, here I was trying to get out of Kansas City because the team wasn't good. Not saying [the Nationals] don't have a chance, but I was trying to get to a team that was looking really good at the moment. And I believe [the Nationals] will be good eventually."
Greinke would join a strong rotation that has Cy Young candidate Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman and Ross Detwiler.
According to the Washington Post, general manager Mike Rizzo will be looking at range of options for pitching, including Greinke.
"I'm much more open-minded with it this year," Rizzo said. "It doesn't necessarily have to be a veteran, it doesn't have to necessarily need to be a fifth-starter type of guy. We just want to get the most quality type of pitcher that we can."
Greinke rose to prominence with the Kansas City Royals, where he won a Cy Young in 2009. He had an exceptional season, going 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts. Greinke was named an All-Star for the first time that season and finished with an astonishing 10.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
During the offseason in 2010 he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers and helped the team to a NL Central division title and a series win the NLDS. Throughout that season Greinke never recorded a loss in any of his starts at Miller Park
In the middle of the 2012 season he was traded to the Angels to help the team make a playoff run and went 6-2 with a 3.53 ERA with 78 strikeouts. For the full season he finished with a 15-5 record with a 3.48 ERA.
There's no doubt that Greinke is the top pitcher on the market, but will he get as much money as he desires? Only time will tell. Best Bet: Greinke signs with the Texas Rangers.