Coming off the best season of his career, Zack Greinke opted out of the remaining three years and $71 million on his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Greinke was among three players the Dodgers extended a qualifying offer to and unsurprisingly, he formally declined it by Friday’s deadline.
Greike has expressed his interest in remaining with the organization, and the Dodgers are said to have him at the top of their list in terms of pitching targets.
Los Angeles is expected to be joined in the pursuit of Greinke by the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants, among others, with the Cubs reportedly also eyeing David Price.
The market for Greinke has yet to hit full swing, though that didn’t stop Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernandez from making his pitch on Twitter, with an ode to the long hair Greinke had last season along with donning the pitcher’s jersey:
Dear Zack, I have no money to offer you but this is my pitch! PLEASEEEEE stay! ?? #21 pic.twitter.com/BwEm0MAghC
— Enrique Hernandez (@kikehndez) November 14, 2015
As part of a deep class of free-agent starting pitchers, Greinke and Price are the two headliners. It’s expected the 32-year-old Greinke will covet a new contract in the neighborhood of five years and in excess of $110 million.
