Kansas City Royals: Six Years After Trading Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke Couldn’t Take Anymore

By that time, Zack Greinke had had enough. And, I really couldn’t blame him. I had lost hope, too. Lauded general manager prospect Moore, whom the Royals had lured from a cushy position as heir apparent for John Schuerholz in Atlanta, appeared to be following in the doomed footsteps of predecessor Allard Baird.

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I fully expected the Greinke trade to become yet another failure. Baird had frittered away emerging stars Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, and Carlos Beltran for mostly useless players like shortstop Neifi Perez and overrated third base prospect Mark Teahen. Dealing Greinke after he had won a Cy Young award in 2009, felt like more of the same.

Looking back at it, I think Moore managed to extend Greinke after the 2008 season by promising him that the Royals would make moves to contend in the coming years. When those attempts blew up in 2010, I suspect Greinke felt that Moore hadn’t kept his end of the bargain.

However, trading Zack Greinke became the cornerstone for Moore’s future success. Greinke’s fit turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for the Royals.