Greinke absent from top 50 of SI.com trade value rankings, Goldschmidt fourth

Sometimes being one of the best pitchers in all of baseball isn’t enough.

Zack Greinke is coming off a 19-3 season with a 1.66 ERA, but that wasn’t good enough to make the top 50 of SI.com Jonah Keri’s trade value rankings.

Keri’s rankings are determined by many factors, including the player’s contract, age and positional scarcity. With that in mind, the lack of Greinke on the list does make sense.

The 32-year-old’s new contract has the highest annual average value in baseball history at over $34 million.

The highest ranked pitcher on the list is the Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer at No. 11, who will only make $42 million over the next six years, while six seasons of Greinke will cost the D-backs $206.5 million.

Keri notes the Greinke salary while discussing D-backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who is fourth on the list.

If Arizona general manager Dave Stewart has his way, that could change soon, as the D-Backs hope to ride a pair of gigantic off-season moves for Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller into playoff glory. But whether or not Greinke justifies the 700 Learjets he’s getting paid, and whether or not the Snakes grow to regret giving up a king’s ransom for Miller, one thing probably won’t change…

Goldschmidt’s high level of production on a great contract warrants top five placement from Keri, who also brings up his high level of anonymity on a national level.

After some early success in the majors, the Diamondbacks gave him a contract that similarly undervalued his potential, so they’re now grateful to have one of the best hitters on the planet locked up for the final three years of a five-year, $32 million deal (plus a club option for 2019). And despite his consistently huge major league numbers netting him three All-Star Games, two Silver Slugger awards, two Gold Gloves and two MVP runner-up finishes, MLB hasn’t exactly built a bunch of multi-million-dollar ad campaigns around Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt’s placings on the list has been an honorable mention in 2012, eighth in 2013, third in 2014 and now fourth in 2016.

A.J. Pollock finished No. 39 on the list and Shelby Miller earned an honorable mention.

Of course, with any national post about Miller, there are jabs thrown at GM Dave Stewart for the trade with the Atlanta Braves.

Miller is just 25 years old, controllable for the next four years, and coming off a terrific season once you ignore antiquated stats like win-loss record. If we based trade value solely on what Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart thought, he’d be really high on the list.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout is No. 1 on the list for the fourth straight year.

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