MLB Free Agents Rumors: Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants Interested in Johnny Cueto & Zack Greinke
This Major League Baseball offseason has a plethora of quality pitchers available. The Boston Red Sox recently made a huge splash in the market signing David Price to a massive seven year, $217 million contract. Still, there are plenty of other quality pitchers on the free agent market.
Dominican ace Johnny Cueto is one of them, and numerous teams have shown interest in him.
The Red Sox had shown interest in Cueto last week, but with the Price signing, the odds of them adding Cueto are extremely slim. The Arizona Diamondbacks reached out to Cueto, but according to reports, Cueto and his team rejected a $120 million offer from them. Normally turning down $120 million would seem crazy, but Cueto may be making the right decision here because many other clubs are still making bids for the now World Series champion.
The Chicago Cubs are among those teams interested in Cueto. The Cubs finished last season with the No. 3 overall team ERA, and Jake Arrieta won the National League Cy Young Award, so this would be an unbelievable pitching staff if the Cubs could bring in Cueto. As good and talented as Cueto is, it may be a better option for the Cubs to lay off this deal and focus more on improving their offense, which ranked 16th in runs scored last season. Cueto is no stranger to the NL, as he pitched eight memorable years with the Cincinnati Reds.
Now here is where things really get interesting.
The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers are in a bidding war over Zack Greinke. Greinke had a phenomenal 2015 season with a 1.66 ERA and a 19-3 record on the mound. Greinke is now an unrestricted free agent, and as badly as the Dodgers want their guy back, the market will dictate that. Many believe because Price received $217 million, Greinke will get even more. The Dodgers are not in a great financial situation and it could result in him leaving. Even worse, maybe to a division rival.
The Giants have shown huge interest in the 32-year-old ace. At this point, it's up to Greinke on which team (or deal) he wants. If the Dodgers lose Greinke to the Giants it would be devastating because the New York Mets and Cubs are young clubs who are only getting better, and the Giants would be much improved with a Madison Bumgarner-Greinke combination. The Dodgers would be falling back in a strong NL.
According to FOX Sports, the Giants are also somewhat interested in Mike Leake and Jeff Samardzija as "backup plans." If the Giants can't lure Greinke in, they are hoping to at least add Leake or Samardzija. Obviously neither Leake or Samardzija are as dominant as Greinke, but neither will cost nearly as much in the long run.
Interestingly enough, there's been nothing connection the Giants to Cueto.
Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1
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