D-Backs finalize Greinke's record-breaking deal

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced the signing of Zack Greinke on Tuesday, four days after agreeing to pay the right-hander the highest average annual salary in major-league history.

Greinke's reported $206.5-million contract includes roughly $60 million in deferred monies that will be paid out in the first five years following the six-year deal. The contract averages out to a record $34.41 million per season.

The stunning deal was made official at the winter meetings in Nashville after the completion of Greinke's physical, and an official introduction is scheduled to take place Friday at Chase Field.

The acquisition of Greinke bolsters a Diamondbacks club already on the rise. Flanked by All-Stars Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock, Greinke joins a team that improved by 15 wins in 2015 while boasting one of the top offenses in baseball.

Greinke, meanwhile, is coming off another All-Star season in which he finished second in Cy Young voting after fashioning a major league-best 1.66 ERA and 0.84 WHIP for the division-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

"We brought him here because he's the front-end guy you want with your ballclub," Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart told MLB.com. "You want him to do a lot of things that he's capable of doing. One, he serves as an example and a mentor to the other guys in our rotation. Two, he will be a stopper for us - stop losing streaks. He's here for six years, which our team is a very, very young team and that gives us a little bit of longevity moving forward."

Greinke signed a $147 million, six-year deal with the Dodgers in December 2012 that included an opt-out clause that he exercised following the World Series. He will wind up earning $282.5 million over nine seasons.

His average tops the previous mark of $31 million set last week when left-hander David Price agreed to a $217 million, seven-year contract with Boston.

- With field from The Associated Press