MLB Free Agency: 5 potential landing spots for Zack Greinke

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox needed a late season run in order to drag their pitching out of the basement. Still, the staff finished 24th with a 4.39 starters ERA. The experience proved to the ownership that a winter spent loading the rotation with mid-rotation arms was wasted due to the lack of an ace.

They won’t let another winter go by while making the same mistake.

The 2016 free agent market features a ton of quality arms, but only a handful of aces. David Price may headline the group, but the Red Sox have shown some restraint recently when it comes to inking a potentially crippling contract and Price is going to be one of those contracts. That leaves Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmerman, and Zack Greinke as the next best choices.

That said, Greinke has some experience in the American League, although the results varied. While he has a career mark of 66-69 in the AL with a 3.80 ERA and a 3.62 FIP, that mark was drastically helped by his 2009 Cy Young campaign.

There is also the matter of Greinke’s previous bouts with anxiety disorders, but those may be less of a concern after having pitched in the pressure cooker of Los Angeles. Boston could use the rotation help and has the financial flexibility to sign such a deal. However, if the past is any indicator, they may choose to leverage their farm strength to trade for an arm rather than sign one.

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