Winter Meetings Day 3: Hey We Signed … Oh Nevermind

As far as Royals-themed rumors during the Winter Meetings, the focus will be on Zack Greinke alone the rest of the way now that the Royals have signed Jeff Francoeur.

The reaction to the Francoeur signing has been mixed – as in “I hate it” or “I do not care for it”.  Nobody seems to like the deal, though I’ll admit, it’s for less money and less of a commitment than I had anticipated so that’s a silver lining, I guess.

There were plenty of Greinke rumors today, including some disputed news of a three way trade between the Marlins, Rangers and Royals that would have sent Greinke to Florida of all places.  The Phillies also jumped in as a potential trade partner.

Jayson Stark of ESPN heard that the Royals won’t trade Greinke until Cliff Lee signs a contract (if they come to an agreement on a deal).  That’s the best approach with a player of Greinke’s caliber.  Just like the Jayson Werth signing made Carl Crawford an even bigger commodity, Cliff Lee‘s signing would leave Greinke as the only available ace on the market and there are as many as eight teams discussing the 2009 Cy Young Award winner with the Royals.  Imagine if the Royals had held off on trading David DeJesus until now after Werth and Crawford had both signed.  Not that he’d be the next guy on everyone’s list, but it’d be well-known that he’d be available and affordable and I think the Royals would have gotten a stronger return in a trade.

The rumor is that Lee won’t sign a contract until Sunday, so any Greinke deal won’t happen at the winter meetings, so we have to wait.  The Yankees have an offer out to Lee, so it may not be that much of a wait (again, if the Royals do trade Greinke).  This is going to be an ongoing situation, so if the Royals don’t trade Greinke, it will follow them during the season.  We’ll be checking our phones for updates nearly every hour of every day.  Or at least I will be.

The other bit of business for Thursday is the Rule 5 Draft.  The Royals probably won’t select anybody, but if they do, Dave Gershman at RoyalsProspects.com has a huge rundown of potential picks.

There will be more on Greinke tomorrow as talks continue and maybe Dayton Moore will slip in a B or C level trade to keep things interesting.

Stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter,Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.