KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Twenty years ago, the Kansas City Royals selected right-hander Zack Greinke with the No. 6 overall pick.
Thirteen years ago, he won a Cy Young Award in his sixth big-league season with the team before being shipped to Milwaukee in a blockbuster trade that proved central in the Royals’ eventual ascension to World Series champions in 2015.
Now, Greinke, 38, will be back in Royal blue.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal broke the news Wednesday afternoon that Kansas City has reached an agreement with Greinke — a free agent who spent time with the Brewers, Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers, Arizona and Houston.
Back to where it started! Royals in agreement with free-agent RHP Zack Greinke, pending physical, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 16, 2022
The Royals confirmed later Wednesday afternoon that it had signed Greinke to a one-year deal, which is reportedly worth $13 million.
Earlier in the day, Kansas City cleared about $8 million in net salary by trading Mike Minor to the Cincinnati Reds for reliver Amir Garrett.
Right-hander Tyler Zuber (shoulder impingement syndrome) was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room for Greinke on the Royals' 40-man roster.
Greinke went 11-6 with a 4.16 ERA last season with the Astros and is 219-132 with a 3.41 in 530 career games during an 18-year MLB career.
He leads all active major-league pitchers in losses (132), starts (488), innings pitched (3,110), hits allowed (2,892), earned runs allowed (1,179) and ranks second with 219 wins and third with 2,809 career strikeouts.
Greinke — who has topped 200 innings pitched eight times, most recently in 2019 — went 60-67 with a 3.82 ERA in 210 appearances, including 169 starts, with the Royals from 2004-10.
Kansas City traded Greinke along with shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and cash to Milwaukee in December 2010 for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi.
Cain emerged as a star center fielder and Escobar became a steady presence at shortstop for the Royals, who reached the World Series for the first time in 29 years in 2014 and won the second championship in franchise history a year later.
Odorizzi was flipped as part of the Wil Myers trade with Tampa Bay in a deal that returned James Shields and Wade Davis, who became part of Kansas City’s lockdown bullpen on those back-to-back World Series teams.
Greinke, a six-time All-Star originally from Apopka, Florida, finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2004 after making his debut at age 20.
He earned his first All-Star appearance in 2009 in his penultimate season with Kansas City, finishing 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229 1/3 innings.
Greinke finished 17th in MVP voting that season despite the Royals finishing with the second-worst record in the American League.
Since leaving Kansas City, Greinke has won six Rawlings Gold Gloves, finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting four times, including a runner-up finish in 2015 with the Dodgers, and finished top 20 in MVP voting twice.
Greinke, Greg Maddux and Bob Gibson are the only pitchers in big-league history with at least six All-Star selections and six Gold Gloves, while Greinke, Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser are the only players in big-league history to have won Cy Young, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.
He also won a Silver Slugger in 2019 after slashing .280/.308/.580 with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and eight RBIs.
