SAN DIEGO – Zack Greinke’s job requires him to spend a lot of time thinking about and watching baseball. So when he has some free time he likes to … think about and watch baseball.

“Maybe it’s just that I don’t do anything fun and that’s fun to me, where it wouldn’t be for most people,” Greinke said in the dry way that he has, making it difficult to tell how much humor he intends.

For the second consecutive year, Greinke sat in the Dodgers’ draft room while the team was making its selections. Greinke has also been known to show up at college baseball games or tournaments.

“He always enjoyed the amateur scouting side of the game,” Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. Counsell and Greinke became friends during their time as teammates with the Milwaukee Brewers. Counsell spent time scouting before stepping into the Brewers’ dugout earlier this season.

“We’d go and just talk about players. For me, it is always a good conversation.”

“We went to a couple ASU games this spring and he just kind of showed up on his own,” Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said. “I think it’s great.”

A fervent fantasy football player – and constant roster-tinkerer, his fantasy opponents report – Greinke said his interest in the scouting and drafting side of things goes beyond just baseball.

“I’m interested in all of that, not just baseball – the NBA draft, NFL draft,” he said. “I like watching rookies. It’s more about just the human body maturing and how they develop. It’s more that than just seeing if I’m good at that (projecting). Maybe it started out me trying to figure out the best way for me to develop and it’s still kind of interesting to me.”

The natural progression would be for Greinke to take his interest into the front office when his playing career is over.

“I’ve thought about what I’m going to do after baseball for probably the past 10 years now and that’s always been one of the possibilities,” Greinke, 31, said. “A lot of that depends on family and if I’d be willing to be away from family as much as it takes to do a job like that. Especially to do a job like that well, it takes a lot of time. And if you get pretty high up in the front office, it takes a lot of time. You’re pretty much saying goodbye to your family.”

Family is about to become even more important to Greinke. He and his wife, Emily, are expecting their first child (a son) in “about a month,” Greinke said. But Zaidi (who took his own unconventional route to a GM’s seat) said there are ways for a player like Greinke to stay in the game without becoming fully immersed in a second career in the front office. Zaidi pointed to his own experience with the Oakland A’s where GM Billy Beane created “special assistant” roles for former players interested in the front office side of things.

“It would be a different income bracket for him so I’m not necessarily sure he’s planning for that career quite yet,” Zaidi joked. “But anyone who is going out and using their limited free time as a big leaguer during the season to be part of this process – they obviously have a real passion for this game and they’ll find their way to staying in it one way or another.

“He’s a very smart guy. … There’s going to be a market for his services when he is at that point. I don’t think he’s going to have to do it out of a financial hardship, so it’s really going to be up to him how involved he wants to be in it.”

Greinke sees another obstacle to pursuing something as involved as running a team’s front office. He has been frank about his struggles with social anxiety disorder. He nearly gave up baseball entirely at age 22 before finding a better way to deal with it (including medication). A GM is often the face of a major-league franchise, dealing with the media and the public. There are also people skills necessary in working out deals with agents or other teams that don’t fit the reticent Greinke’s personality.

“I don’t know if I have those skills,” Greinke said. “You have to be pretty decent with people to be a GM.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get better at that.”

OLIVERA UPDATE

Cuban infielder Hector Olivera is one step away from the big leagues. Olivera was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday and will make his debut with the OKC Dodgers on Saturday against the Nashville Sounds.

Olivera spent just six games with Double-A Tulsa, going 7 for 22 (.318), including six hits in 12 at-bats after a 1-for-10 start. Olivera played four games at third base and two at second base with the Drillers.

ALSO

Right-hander Brandon Beachy threw two innings in a simulated-game setting at the Dodgers’ training complex in Arizona Thursday. He is tentatively scheduled to begin a rehab assignment next week, most likely with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Beachy will likely throw two innings on Tuesday for the Quakes. … Outfielder Scott Van Slyke (back) is also close to starting a rehab assignment, possibly this weekend. … Carl Crawford (torn oblique muscle) has begun swinging a bat. He is not eligible to return for another two weeks. … The Dodgers acquired infielder Ronald Torreyes from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations. The Dodgers will be the fifth organization for the 22-year-old Torreyes. He has a .299 average over six minor-league seasons playing primarily second base but some third and shortstop as well. Torreyes was assigned to Double-A Tulsa. To open a spot on the 40-man roster for him, the Dodgers designated veteran infielder Darwin Barney for assignment.

Contact the writer: bplunkett@ocregister.com