It’s one of those songs that once you hear it you never forget it – not ever. It’s Seasons of Love from the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Rent and the first few lyrics are:

525,600 minutes,
525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes,
How do you measure, measure a year?

The number 525,600 is, of course, the number of minutes in one year and those minutes are the reason why Zack Greinke is now an Arizona Diamondback instead of a Dodger.

On Friday evening it was reported that the Dbacks had become a late (and surprising) entry into the Zack Greinke sweepstakes – a battle that was believed to be a two-horse race between the Dodgers and their archrival San Francisco Giants. But when the dust finally settled, it was indeed the Dbacks who had successfully pulled the 32-year-old Orlando, FL native out from under both California teams by offering him a six-year / $206.5 million contract for a MLB record-setting Average Annual Value (AAV) of $34.3 million.

Chances are most Dodger fans didn’t actually believe that when Zack Greinke left the mound during Game-5 of the 2015 NLDS that it would be for the final time as a Dodger.
(Photo credit – Alex Gallardo)

Because Greinke was unquestionably the most sought-after free agent starting pitcher this winter, it was a given that he would command the highest AAV. But the Dodgers (and apparently the Giants) refused to go beyond a five-year deal for Greinke, which would have taken him through his age-36 season. But what the Dodgers declined to offer Greinke in years, they certainly felt they had made up for in salary with a reported five-year / $155 million deal to overcome those 525,600 minutes.

They were wrong.

“We made a very strong offer to retain Zack but clearly he found a deal that fit better for him and his family,” said Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman in a written statement. “We are now hard at work on our alternatives. We wish Zack, Emily and Bode all the bet going forward.”

Greinke’s deal with the Dbacks will not become official until he passes a physical, but that isn’t expected to be a problem. What may be a problem, however, is the fact that for each of the past three seasons – all with the Dodgers – Greinke received a lubrication injection in his right elbow when pitchers and catchers reported for spring training. And while this apparently hasn’t caused any problems for the hard-throwing right-hander to this point, it may become a concern for the Diamondbacks as Greinke approached the back end of that six-year deal.

With Greinke, David Price and Jordan Zimmermann now off the table, so too are the Dodgers hopes of landing one of the three best top-of-the-rotation available free agents. And while some will argue that right-hander Johnny Cueto is also in this elite company, many believe that the right elbow of the soon-to-be 30-year-old San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic native will not make it through a six or seven-year contract.

Although you can never overlook Friedman’s and Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi’s uncanny ability to find a diamond in the rough somewhere out there, it is becoming very apparent that they are closing in on their oft-stated goal to “get younger.” As such and with the top prizes no longer on the free agent market, there is a very good possibility that we will see 19-year-old left-hander Julio Urias and 23-year-old right-hander Jose De Leon get a legitimate shot at making the Dodgers Opening Day rotation should one or both of them have a very good spring.

There is also the possibility that South Korean left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu might be fully recovered from his May 21, 2015 shoulder surgery when pitchers and catchers report on February 18. Then again, there is also the possibility that he won’t, which leaves Friedman and Zaidi little choice but to trade one (or more) of their blue chip prospects to acquire starting pitching before Opening Day.

Only time will tell if the Dodgers refusal to give Greinke that sixth year will come back to haunt them, but it’s impossible to argue that doing so instantly made the Diamondbacks a much better team and a viable contender in the NL West.

525,600 minutes,
How do you measure, measure a year?