If it wasn't obvious by now, I have become completely obsessed with the Angels and their pursuit of Zack Greinke. Or I should say their aborted pursuit of Greinke because apparently everyone, including the Halos, has decided that the Dodgers are just going to give him all the money in the world. That's the conventional wisdom. The Dodgers have unlimited money and want to get the best pitcher they can. I guess it makes sense, right?
I say wrong, or at least the part of my brain that doesn't want the Angels to lose Greinke does. That little portion keeps saying "if the Dodgers want him so bad, why haven't they just signed him already?" Even with my bias, I think that is a very legitimate question.
Think about it. The rumors are that they are going to top whatever offer Greinke gets, but that is actually a risky position for them to take because it invites him to go out and talk to other team, other teams that might convince him to take their lesser offer because of some intangible, non-monetary reasons. Thus the Dodgers would've lost Greinke without ever making him a real offer because they made the mistake that he would only go to the highest bidder, which most players do, but there are some very notable exceptions. If ever there was a guy who one could expect to take the exception route, it is the infamously quirky Greinke.
What the Dodgers should do if they absolutely must have him is just tell him to name his price and give it to him. We saw early in the season that Greinke's camp put out word that he wanted six years and $150 million. That was LA's chance to swoop in pay the equivalent of eBay's Buy It Now price and forego any of that risky bidding war. Done and done.
But no, they didn't do it for some reason. Maybe they are overestimating their ability to just trump all offers or maybe, just maybe, they aren't actually ready to pay top dollar to land him. Let's not forget that this is a team that ALREADY HAS SIX STARTING PITCHERS plus the rights to the Korean pitcher Ryu. It isn't s rotation that screams World Series, but it is one that a team can contend with.
Basically, the Dodgers can afford to pay Greinke whatever they want, but the don't need to. And if they don't need him, that usually means that they do have a limit tot he amount they are willing to pay for him despite all the speculation to the contrary.
Maybe.
Probably not.
Forget I said anything.
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