[Video through 360sportsaz.com]
Probably the biggest thing to come out of the press-conference was that Greinke has cut his hair.
First we lost Dansby Swanson's 80-grade hair, now Greinke gets a significant trim? WTF is happening right now?
— Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24) December 11, 2015
It was a somewhat awkward event, to be honest, which is perhaps a reflection of Greinke's social anxiety disorder, for which he takes Zoloft. But, for some reason, it wasn't as if Stewart and De La Russa exactly looked ecstatic to be there either...
The #Dbacks man of the hour. pic.twitter.com/Kg0JyZcen5
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) December 11, 2015
Greinke made all the right noises, to be sure saying he began to notice the team and their style of play around the All-Star break this year, and was impressed with base-running in particular, and our "taking extra bases like crazy". But perhaps the most striking thing to come out of the event was Greinke admitting that he was"minutes away from going to a different team - it was that close." While he declined to go into details, the two with which he was most often connected were the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers - per Molly Knight, most likely the Giants, who offered him a six-year, $195 million contract, with the Dodgers "a distant third."
If, fingers crossed, this signing does lead to success in future for the franchise, those few minutes will be all the more pivotal. While Greinke remained vague on most team-related questions, he did praise both Robbie Ray and Rubby De La Rosa, calling the former "way better than anybody gave him credit for," and saying De La Rosa "has an amazing arm." Said CBO Tony La Russa, in his own comments:
We liked our position players going forward. We felt like with our young arms that a rotation leader is the number one thing that could really help us... We’re in debt to our ownership. [Friday] would not have happened if Ken [Kendrick] would not have stepped forward and made it happen... We were looking for a true No. 1, a true leader of the staff that would take the ball on Opening Day, and every day in the toughest game [he] would want to be out there We're very fortunate. This young man's in the midst of a great career, and now the next six years -- he'll be having them with us.
Interestingly Kendrick still would not be drawn on details the financials, but did say the amount deferred on Greinke's contract was about 10% of the amount deferred after 2001, which would be around $25 million. The owner added that, the new TV deal does make it easier to handle, and he isn't worried about the team being able to meet its future obligations. So, appears there is no need for a Kickstarter campaign at the present time. If you missed the press conference. it will be on Fox Sports Arizona again tonight, airing at both 6pm and 11pm.
Now, is it Opening Day yet?