Zack Greinke to Arizona: The Twitterverse explodes

The first whisper

Sources: #DBacks pursuing Greinke.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2015

Needless to say, initial reaction was... skeptical, to put it mildly. In the spirit of our Gameday Threads, let's turn some of these red!

@Ken_Rosenthal pursuing as in chasing him through the hotel lobby in Nashville as he runs away?

— Reality Police (@RealityPolice15) December 4, 2015

@Ken_Rosenthal they say are pursuing the biggest FA every year and they never sign. It's a PR stunt for fans. I don't buy it one bit

— J.D. Francis (@Joedfran) December 5, 2015

.@Ken_Rosenthal is your source @TheOnion

— Kathleen Lee (@kathleenelee) December 4, 2015

[Kathleen did later follow-up, "LOL JOKES ON ME", so credit for that] Even our colleagues over at Fake Teams were raising a sardonic eyebrow.

“@Ken_Rosenthal: Sources: #DBacks pursuing Greinke.” Hahahahaha

— Ray Guilfoyle (@faketeams) December 4, 2015

Atom bomb dropped. Clean-up on Aisle 5

Sources: Greinke in agreement with #DBacks, pending physical.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 5, 2015

Reaction was swift, decisive and at the hysterical level of CAPS LOCK ON over-reaction only Twitter can deliver.

@Ken_Rosenthal NO NO NO NO PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE NO FUCKING WAY IN HELL

— syd (@ravioliniall) December 5, 2015

@Ken_Rosenthal I AM LITERALLY SHAKING & MY JAW IS STILL ON THE FLOOR JUST RIP MY FUCKING HEART OUT I'M DONE

— syd (@ravioliniall) December 5, 2015

However, there was some well-considered analysis also to be found.

@Ken_Rosenthal Finally some protection in the order for Goldschmidt

— Tony Zerucha (@TonyZerucha) December 5, 2015

Hey, Greinke DID have more home-runs last year, than Cliff Pennington in his 72 games...

The ripples spread

I was in Safeway, and @truebluela texted me four very, very naughty words. For five seconds, I thought the Giants had him.

— Grant Brisbee (@mccoveychron) December 5, 2015

Greinke gone. LA's lone remaining perfect throwing motion is Alba pic.twitter.com/hgkl5AjiQI

— Batting Stance Guy (@BattingStanceG) December 5, 2015

Best thing about Greinke signing with the @Dbacks, he has multiple chances to hit Carlos Quentin again.

— Jeff Summers (@azjazzyj) December 5, 2015

So much for my planned under-the-radar prediction that the Diamondbacks would be a playoff team in 2016.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) December 5, 2015

Maybe its the money. Maybe its years. Most likely, its the security of knowin that youll see Paul Goldschmidt in his underwear almost daily.

— Andrew Phillips (@TheRealBigPoop) December 5, 2015

Cry havoc, and let slip the Hudson of war!

The Diamondbacks' social media attack dog didn't hang around.

The uniforms must've sealed the deal. Suck it haters

— Daniel Hudson (@DHuddy41) December 5, 2015

Trying to remember the last time a D-backs' player's Tweet was retweeted over a thousand times!

https://t.co/LUulte1mPf

— Daniel Hudson (@DHuddy41) December 5, 2015

Giants and Dodger fans right now in my mentions https://t.co/jfDH54NsZB

— Daniel Hudson (@DHuddy41) December 5, 2015

Never change, Huddy. Never change.

But, wait! There's more

Sources: #DBacks’ Stewart, La Russa met yesterday with free-agent RHP Mike Leake. Still interested even after reaching deal with Greinke.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 5, 2015

Oh. My. [Read in a George Takei voice] Interesting times, folks. We live in very interesting times. 2020 might suck, f'sure, but right now? I'm as excited to be a D-backs fan as any time since Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS.

I'll leave you with this plaintive little reaction, full of poign.

@Ken_Rosenthal Snakes. Why does it always have to be snakes?

— moxiequz (@moxiequz) December 4, 2015