NL West Notes: Zack Greinke, Chase Headley, Paul Goldschmidt

The Giants won the NL West last year and eventually the World Series, let's take a look at what the rest of the division is up to.

Elbow problems for Greinke?

When the Dodgers signed free agent pitcher Zack Greinke to a huge multi-year extension, they surely knew there was some risk involved. I just don't think that the team was expecting elbow concerns his first year in Spring Training, which is reported to be the case. This wouldn't be a blow to the Dodgers in the sense that they do have capable depth, but losing the star power of Greinke at the top of the rotation would be a huge blow.

This has that feeling of the mid-2000s Yankees when they would sign free agent starters and they would all just hit the DL at what seemed to be a constant pace. Obviously if Greinke is fine then this is all just speculation, but it would be a huge blow to them to lose their star pitcher.

No headway between Headley and Padres?

Chase Headley is really good. The Padres, a Major League team, presumably like really good players. The two sides have not made much headway on an extension, and do not appear to be. Headley will reportedly play this season without an extension, and the two sides will reconvene in the offseason to decide what the best course of action is for the future.

If I'm San Diego I lock up Headley. He is really-talented, and he plays a scarce position. It doesn't hurt that he can actually hit just fine in Petco either.

Diamondbacks Goldschmidt looking for gold (bad puns galore)

Paul Goldschmidt and the Diamondbacks are reportedly discussing an extension to keep him in Arizona, according to reports. The young first basemen had a nice year in 2012, and with the market at first base looking weak for the near-future, the team would certainly like to lock him up for a while.

When the Cardinals locked up Allen Craig for as cheap as they did, I think that set the market for pre-arb first basemen. It should be interesting to see what direction the Diamondbacks and Goldschmidt go in, as there really aren't too many comparable situations right now.