MLB trade rumors: Why Diamondbacks’ Zack Greinke to Yankees makes sense

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is shopping for starting pitching. The Arizona Diamondbacks are shopping right-hander Zack Greinke. Is there a deal to be made for the 35-year-old right-hander, who won the 2009 American League Cy Young Award with the Kansas City Royals?

On Monday, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the Diamondbacks are willing to move ace Zack Greinke.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has gone on the record as saying he is shopping for starting pitching.

So is there a deal to be made between New York and Arizona?

MLB.com’s David Adler explains why the Yankees could be a fit for Greinke:

The Yankees want to add multiple starters this offseason, and they are targeting arms who can pitch alongside Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka. They’ve been linked to (Patrick) Corbin, and (Dallas) Keuchel seems like a good fit, too. Greinke still might be the best-suited of the three to put on the pinstripes.

For one, he’s much more established than Corbin, who was excellent in 2018 and ’13 but doesn’t have the sustained success in between. The Yankees are also an immediate World Series championship contender, so Greinke’s age isn’t the same issue for them as an up-and-coming team like the White Sox. Greinke’s proven he can pitch in a big market, and the Yankees want to avoid another Sonny Gray situation, as they shop Gray after his ongoing struggles in New York. Greinke’s run with the Dodgers from 2013-15 was one of the best of his career — he went 51-15 with a 2.30 ERA in 92 starts.

And there’s one interesting factor at play when comparing Greinke to Keuchel: The Yankees’ infield defense is a huge question mark, and Keuchel is a heavy ground-ball pitcher. Miguel Andujar‘s struggles at third base were bad enough that he was removed for defense in playoff games. Gleyber Torres didn’t rate well defensively, either. New York’s strongest defender, Didi Gregorius, will miss a lot of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Compare that to the trio that played behind Keuchel in Houston: Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve. The Astros allowed a .232 batting average on ground balls in 2018, the sixth-lowest of any team, while the Yankees allowed a .261 average, the fifth-highest.

Greinke gets more outs in the air and via strikeout — he’s struck out 25.2 percent of the batters he’s faced over the last two seasons, compared to 19.1 percent for Keuchel.

1 offseason priority for every Yankee

Adler points out that the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels could also be landing spots for Greinke.

Rosenthal wrote on Monday that Greinke is owed $104.5 million over the next three years.

The 35-year-old right-hander, who won the 2009 American League Cy Young Award with the Kansas City Royals, was 10th in the National League in 2018 with a 3.21 ERA.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.