He’s best known as one of the more peculiar and odd personalities in baseball, but for the bulk of his 20 years in MLB Zack Greinke is regarded as one of the best pitchers of his generation. Since his debut in 2004 with the Kansas City Royals, Greinke has spent time with the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Houston Astros before returning to the Royals the past two seasons. At the age of 40, Greinke is no longer the pitcher he once was, a perennial Cy Young award contender putting up a sub-3.00 ERA, but rather a seasoned veteran who can still eat up some innings for any number of clubs. He’s indicated he wants to pitch in 2024 which begs the question, where could he end up for his 21st season? Well, I have some ideas.

Kansas City Royals

His top spot could likely be another one-year reunion with the Royals. As he nears the end of his career, Greinke has felt sentimental and actively wanted to be with the Royals to try and finish where he began his career. He has made 53 starts over the past two seasons, posting a 4.38 ERA over 279 innings. The Royals have been active in the pitching market, recently adding Seth Lugo and keeping tabs on other pitchers in the market. There is interest on the Royals’ part to add to their rotation to give them options and the familiarity of Greinke could get things done. The budget may be tighter at this point, but they could find a way to stretch things to make a contract laden with incentives work as Greinke chases history with 3,000 strikeouts.

Colorado Rockies

Ending his career in the high altitude of Colorado probably isn’t at the top of the list for Greinke, but his services could be useful heading into 2024. The Rockies starting rotation is the biggest area of concern for the club after they used a franchise-record amount of starting pitchers in 2024. As it stands they have veterans Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber, and newly acquired Cal Quantrill heading the rotation with the backend still up for grabs with a few younger arms. 2024 isn’t likely to be a competitive year for the Rockies as they wait for prospects to develop, so Greinke could eat some valuable innings and his profile would work for the Rockies. He had the fourth-lowest walk rate in baseball last season and gets a lot of groundballs. He’d be a little more prone to giving up some home runs at Coors Field but in 14 career starts in Colorado, he has a 4.31 ERA with just eight home runs allowed. Could be entertaining at least.

Milwaukee Brewers

If Greinke is looking for another reunion, heading back to Milwaukee could be in the cards. He spent two seasons with the Brewers, making a total of 49 starts between 2011 and 2012 before he was traded to the Angels in 2012. He had a 25-9 record with a 3.67 ERA, and a 2.79 FIP, and even led the league with a 10.9 SO/9 in 2011. The Brewers could be shuffling their rotation further this offseason via trade, meaning there could be some holes that Greinke could fill and eat some innings in a potential final season. Plus, the Brewers’ ability to work with pitchers could help Greinke tap into some past success and go out on a high note in 2024.

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers recently added Kenta Maeda to the rotation, but they could likely use another durable starter to the rotation given the injury histories of their other rotation options. Greinke turned down offers from the Tigers before the 2022 season because of his desire to go to Kansas City, but perhaps those talks could be revisited. The Tigers are slowly developing offensively and are still working through crafting their rotation. They would likely want a more top-of-the-line starter like Lucas Giolito, but if they want a cheaper one-year commitment, Greinke would be a solid backup plan for them. He’s already familiar with the organization, having faced them quite a bit throughout his career with the Royals, and it keeps him in the same division.

St. Louis Cardinals 

The Cardinals have already added Lance Lynn, Sonny Gray, and Kyle Gibson to the rotation this offseason, with Gray being the youngest at the age of 34. Steven Matz is the youngest of the projected rotation at 32 years old, so why not get a more seasoned veteran in Greinke to take his spot and give them an even older rotation? Age is just a number right? The Cardinals get another soft-tossing innings eater and Greinke can chase history. The Cardinals seem committed to just getting older and older.