Arizona Diamondbacks: Zack Greinke Trade Rumors

The direction of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2019 will be secured in the coming weeks. Recently, reports have begun to trickle out concerning the future of current Dbacks ace Zack Greinke, and free agent departee Patrick Corbin.

Here in the early stages of the offseason, the Arizona Diamondbacks are wreathed by the murky futures of their 2018 stars: Zack Greinke, Paul Goldschmidt and Patrick Corbin.

There is always the possibility that the top free agent starter – in this case, Patrick Corbin – will sign early and set the market, but that doesn’t appear likely this offseason, per MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi. Two of the teams with the most interest in Corbin, the White Sox and Phillies, are largely focusing their pursuits on Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, keeping the bidding for Corbin on hold.

His future in the desert, however, has been clear since he rejected the qualifying offer earlier this winter. While the rest of the league can dream on the possibility of the best slider in baseball joining their rotation next fall, Dbacks fans are merely enjoying the show as we await the compensatory pick in next June’s draft.

The rumor mill for Paul Goldschmidt has begun to stir, but it’s not yet at the frenzy GM Mike Hazen will likely want in order to pull the trigger on a deal. Latest reports mark the Minnesota Twins as a potential trade partner, per a Morosi tweet.

With Joe Mauer officially retired, Goldschmidt seems like a fit from both an on-field and character perspective – but the Athletic’s Dan Hayes squelched the Twins’ interest to a degree (via Twitter). His source suggests the conversations between the two teams were only preliminary and not likely to culminate in action.

Surprising as it may seem, the majority of early rumors this offseason have involved Greinke – despite the 3 years and more than $90MM still owed the right-hander. Per Morosi’s report, the Diamondbacks’ brass is confident they can move Greinke without having to eat any of the money. The Phillies, then, seem like the most logical suitor should they miss out on Corbin.

The contract is cumbersome, but over the first half of the six-year deal Greinke signed in advance of his age-32 season, he has averaged 30 starts and 190 innings of 3.53 ERA baseball. That would slot him niceley behind newly-minted ace Aaron Nola atop the Philly rotation. Jake Arrieta gives them a top-3 to go to war with.

For the Arizona Diamondbacks, it’s only a matter of time until the first of these winter dominoes falls.  It might be Patrick Corbin ensuring the Dbacks an early thirties pick in the draft, or it might be Mike Hazen finally pulling the trigger on a deal for Paul Goldschmidt or Zack Greinke. Either way, winter is coming.