Last week ESPN's Buster Olney suggested the Kansas City Royals were listening to offers for Zack Greinke. That got folks talking a Greinke trade but the Royals tell Bob Dutton of the KC Star that their willingness to trade Greinke is nothing new.
"Nothing has changed at all," general manager Dayton Moore said. "We know it’s going to make sense, at some point in time, to do something if we can’t sign him beyond 2012. We’ve just got to measure how (any deal) fits in today and long-term."
The Royals aren't saying by any means that they want to get rid of Greinke. There are plenty of reasons to try and resign him. In the last month of the season Greinke expressed some frustration with the Royals and where they are in the rebuilding process.
The word during the MLB trade deadline was that the Royals didn't have any untouchables (of course there were about a dozen different rumors a day during that time).
If he won't sign a long-term deal after 2012 then the Royals have no choice but to trade him while they can still get value in return. That's what GM Dayton Moore will have to figure out in the coming months (and year) and it's really the key to the whole thing. The decision to trade Greinke shouldn't be hard. If he is willing to sign long-term, then do it (if the money is right). If he can't sign a long-term deal then trade him in 2011 to maximize the return.
Moore sounds like he's been thinking about what could be his biggest decision as the Royals GM.
"I don’t know when the right time is," Moore said. "Is there a right time this winter? I guess there could be if you get the right deal. Is the right time in July 2011? I don’t know.
You never say a guy is untouchable because there's always a price tag on someone. Greinke figures to be a hot commodity moving forward and the Royals will have to listen if people call.
I've gone on record to say that the Royals shouldn't trade Greinke. They should hang onto him however they can. If the Royals are serious about contending then they need to keep good starting pitchers. It's not that hard. We'll see if Greinke can stick in Kansas City for years to come.
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