Washington Nationals to pursue Zack Greinke in free agency - MLB Update
General Manager for Washington Nationals, Mike Rizzo views Zack Greinke as part of the possible players that they will be looking to hire from the free agent market.
Other than first baseman Adam LaRoche, pitcher Greinke is among the top priorities of the Nationals.
The Nationals aim to fill a spot on their rotation. During the last season, they enjoyed the services of a few of the best starting pitchers available in the Major League.
They had the likes of Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann. Unfortunately, the Nationals could not go deep in the post-season despite having the required resources.
While most of their hurlers dominated in 2012 regular season, Edwin Jackson struggled.
As part of the strong rotation, he failed to ensure wins in important matches. Especially in the playoffs, he leaked runs and deserted the team at a time when his poor performance cost the club the most.
Most probably, the Nationals are not going to retain him for the upcoming season.
As a result, a vacancy has opened on their rotation. In order to make sure that the pitching staff of the Nationals remains strong, team officials will be doing the shopping in the free agent market.
Greinke has the credentials to join their team and reinforce the reputation of the club of possessing quality arms.
The problem for the Nationals in hiring him can be the fact that a number of organisations will be interested in Greinke. They can even go on to spend a huge amount of money for his acquisition.
To win the competition, the Nationals will have to offer a blockbuster deal. Rizzo is mindful of the potential price of Greinke.
"Yes, I've imagined it," Rizzo said. "Thinking about it, dreaming about it, implementing it are different scenarios. Like I said, we're open-minded. I'm not going to close the door on it, Jim. We've spent before in the free-agent market, we've got an ownership
group that is responsive about those types of things. But we have to be smart about it, we have to do the right thing for over the long haul, but we're certainly going to keep our options open."
Within a few days, reports regarding the name of the players that the Nationals are seeking in free agency may surface.
It will be interesting to see the Nationals spending their money in the market.
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