Zack Greinke returning to Royals on one-year, $13 million deal, per report

Zack Greinke is headed back to where it all started.

The free agent starting pitcher is in agreement on a one-year, $13 million deal with the Kansas City Royals, according to the New York Post's Joel Sherman.

The move sends Greinke back to the organization where he was drafted, developed and named a Cy Young Award winner in 2009. Since then, Greinke has bounced around MLB while remaining one of the league's most effective pitchers, spending time with the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros.

Greinke was a free agent after the expiration of the then-record six-year, $206.5 million deal that brought him to Arizona and ultimately took him to Houston via trade. The 38-year-old pitcher is coming off season in which he posted a 4.16 ERA in 171 innings with 120 strikeouts.

Now, Greinke joins a Royals team that could use an innings eater as it tries to grab a playoff spot in the expanded MLB playoffs.