Other Notes On Zack Greinke

As more information and other reports come out, you can see how the Brewers went from being a fringe trade possibility to becoming the surprise “mystery team” who got Zack Greinke.

Last week when Greinke changed agents, it turns out the initial reactions were correct: he did so with an eye towards an upcoming trade.  Switching to the CAA group, who represent Roy Halladay now and did so during trade talks last offseason, turned out to be a way to link Greinke – who’d had the Brewers on his no-trade list – to Milwaukee.  The CAA group has a good relationship with Brewers Ryan Braun and Corey Hart, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

So, when Greinke exercised his no-trade clause to refuse a deal that would have sent him to Washington (supposedly for the rumored Jordan Zimmermann, Drew Storen, Danny Espinosa and Michael Burgess package), the Brewers made the call.  According to Dayton Moore’s comments in this afternoon’s press conference, Milwaukee had the right fit of players.

Moore also mentioned:

• They view Jeremy Jeffress as a reliever rather than a starter.  The Brewers had discussed moving the hard-throwing righty into a starting role.
• The Royals tried to discuss an extension with Greinke but he and his agents made it clear that they weren’t interested.
• Moore preferred the position players in a Greinke deal to be closer to the majors and didn’t want a shortstop or centerfielder who might be a few years down the line (this must be a reference to 17 year old Jurickson Profar of the Rangers, who was rumored to be a target of the Royals).  Since pitchers can make a larger impact faster, he was comfortable getting pitchers who were a little behind the position players.
• Moore reiterated the thought of getting a long look at Danny Duffy or Everett Teaford during spring training to determine if either might fit as a potential fifth starter in 2011.
• They didn’t have to trade Greinke, but when the opportunity for young talent comes around, and given Zack’s extension stance, it was a move to make.
• Moore acknowledged speculation that Christian Colon, last year’s first round pick, would move to second base with the acquisition of Escobar.

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has been active today in reporting on the trade and the prospects involved and its impact on both the Royals and Brewers systems.  Following the acquisition of Jake Odorizzi and Jeffress, as well as adding Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain, Goldstein noted that the Royals have the best system he’s seen since he started covering baseball.  He also mentioned in an interview that while losing Greinke will hurt the Royals, they’ll likely have a better record in 2013 and 2014 than any team Greinke might be on at the time.

The Royals are going to be bad in 2011, but we knew they’d be bad with or without Greinke.  They’ll have a top five pick in this year’s draft and probably the number one overall pick in the 2012 draft.

By that time, ideally, the Royals wealth of talent will make them competitive.

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