５円玉、凄い！
４年３８百万ドル、。為替レート次第で１年１０億円以上だ。
グレインキー投手、松坂投手の初登板の相手。
日本でホームステイした時にホストファミリーから貰った５円玉を大切にペンダントにしている。
７勝、１３勝と確実に成長している。
ヤンキースなら、１７、８勝はしていた。
良い契約に安心しないで、一機にブレークできるか。
They put Zack Greinke on the Royals Caravan that went through Arkansas. That was done on purpose, of course, not only to show the team’s emerging ace how loved he is by fans at each stop but also how loved he is by the team’s No. 1 fan — owner David Glass.
They are both Wal-Mart guys, Greinke likes to say, and the millionaire pitcher came away impressed with the billionaire businessman’s dedication to building a winner, and his knowledge base for everything that was happening with the team.
No coincidence, then, that Greinke’s four-year, $38 million contract was made final and announced Monday — less than a week after the trip.
“I kind of had to see how serious he was,” Greinke said at one point in his news conference.
“Me and him have a lot in common,” he said at another point.
Greinke will make $3.75 million this season, $7.25 million in 2010 and $13.5 million each in 2011 and 2012 — the first two years of what would’ve probably been a huge free-agent deal had he waited.
Barring bigger contracts, Greinke’s salary in 2011 and 2012 will be the most in franchise history. It’s a remarkable thing from at least two perspectives.
This is the same guy who effectively quit baseball three years ago because of depression and a social anxiety disorder that had him wanting to mow lawns instead of throw fastballs. And this is the same organization that for years made itself an easy Wal-Mart punchline for low-balling draft picks and watching its best players get rich in other places.
Look now, and you see a 25-year-old starting pitcher coming off a 13-win, 200-inning season in which he finished in the American League’s top 10 in ERA (3.47), strikeouts (183), and strikeouts-to-walks (3.27).
You also see a franchise that spent more on last year’s draft than any other club, is bumping its payroll as much as 20 percent to an all-time high (likely to be close to the league median) and willing to sign expensive long-term deals with Greinke, Gil Meche and Joakim Soria.
“The fact that Zack Greinke is in a position to be signed to this kind of contract is cause for celebration,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore says. “And the fact that we were able to sign him to this contract is cause for an even bigger celebration.”
At least on this day, Moore played off any questions about the symbolism of this move to a fan base burned in the past by Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye walking to bigger markets and paychecks.
But there’s little doubt that this was the most important issue in the minds of fans, and that signing Greinke not only becomes Moore’s biggest offseason move, but one that’s universally applauded — unlike some other signings that generated mixed reactions.
Greinke said he wouldn’t have wanted any contract talk once the season started, and with team officials not convinced that a long-term deal would be a good gamble until last summer, the timing was good on both sides.
“Kansas City is actually a great town for me,” Greinke says. “It’s pretty small, but it’s big, too. There’s plenty of stuff to do. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone say something mean to my face. They may not like me, but I never see that side of them. It’s a family town. I like that. That’s what I don’t like about some other cities.”
Greinke calls the deal “a huge relief” and says it’s nice to know where he’ll be for four years and that he’ll have the money for whatever food, trainers or equipment he needs for baseball.