It didn’t take Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman long to begin toying with Dodgers fans over whether or not he plans to make a run at re-signing 2015 Cy Young hopeful Zack Greinke. In fact, he did so at the very first opportunity he had – Day-1 of the annual general managers meetings being held this week in Boca Raton, Florida.

“Everything varies depending on the player you’re talking about,” Friedman said. “But you look back over time and so many long-term free agent contracts have worked out really poorly. More than anything else, you just get to a point where you’re significantly hindering your ability to win in the future. So we have to balance all of that. But it’s not a hard-and-fast [rule] and there are certain guys you feel better about than others, and there are certain guys where trying to do a shorter-term with a higher [annual value] makes more sense. It really depends on who you’re talking about and what your need is and also how long you forecast that need being there.”

If this sounds like a bunch of double-talk, it actually isn’t – it’s just the way that the Dodgers number two man usually explains things. But what it does sound like is that although Friedman doesn’t particularly like signing aging veteran pitchers to expensive multi-year contracts, he isn’t completely opposed to doing so under the right circumstances. And with Guggenheim Baseball Management group’s extremely deep pockets, that would mean offering the 32-year-old Greinke more money but for a shorter term – say like four years instead of five or five years with a club option for six instead of a flat six-year deal.

Although the decision to offer what will undoubtedly be a very large contract to Zack Greinke belongs to Stan Kasten and Andrew Friedman, the ultimate decision to accept it or not belongs to Greinke himself.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Friedman also said that even if they are unable to bring back Zack, there are other ways to improve a team’s starting rotation than just peeling off a bunch of hundred-dollar bills and taking long-term risks, noting that the recently concluded playoffs proved this point.

“You look at the four teams in the championship series, and all were constructed very differently,” Friedman said. “It’s just another illustration of the fact that you can get there in different ways … There are a number of ways we can go that give us a good chance going into next year.”

But it’s not just what the Dodgers are willing to offer Greinke that will ultimately determine if the Orlando, Florida will remain in a Dodgers uniform next season (and beyond), that decision is Greinke’s and Greinke’s alone. And even though the eccentric and incredibly smart right-hander has repeatedly said that he enjoys being a Dodger, he also originally signed with them in December of 2012 because they offered him the most money. That being said and setting the money issue aside for a second, the one thing that Greinke wants more than anything at this point in his career is a World Series ring – something that has eluded him throughout his 12-year MLB career. As such, it is highly likely that Greinke will opt to sign with a team that he perceives as is a legitimate contender rather than the one that offers him the most money or the longest term.

Another factor to consider is that although Greinke never came right out and said so, he hinted on more than one occasion that he didn’t always agree with some of the decisions made by former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. As such, it could be who Friedman selects as the Dodgers new manager that could ultimately determine which cap Greinke will be wearing next season. Although Greinke obviously has no say in that matter, knowing Zack he probably offered his opinion on it to Friedman and perhaps even to Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten – who he once called “the smartest man I know.”

Greinke’s decision to re-sign with the Dodgers or not could boil down to who they select to replace Don Mattingly as the new Dodgers manager. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)