It's been assumed for some time that Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke wouldn't be able to play for a large market team because of various reasons including some anxiety issues he had early in his career. Greinke doesn't always come off as the most comfortable guy in front of the media and if that's the case in Kansas City imagine what would happen if he were to go to an actual big city.
That was the assumption. A source close to Greinke tells Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports that Greinke would okay with a trade to the New York Yankees.
"I wouldn’t put it past him to go to New York," the source said. "I don’t think he’d rule out anybody. He says he likes New York. Especially because they’re winners. He wants to go to a team that wins."
This is standard stuff in negotiations. My best guess is that the source close to Greinke is also the one who stands to benefit from him -- his agent (or agency). The best thing any agent, in any sport can hear is: "The Yankees are interested." Not only do the Yankees spend, but their presence alone drives the price up on players.
The Royals have continued to talk about Greinke with the Yankees, according to a source, knowing that the no-trade clause isn’t the impediment it’s been made out to be.
It's been reported that the Texas Rangers may be interested as well. They've been the popular pick because we were previously under the assumption that large market teams weren't in play here. Now that Greinke's camp apparently wants to make sure everyone knows that they can all bid on him, are the Rangers still in on things? We're not sure.
Greinke's agent would be silly to let the rest of the league think he's cut off half of them from negotiating. The higher the demand, the higher the pay off.
Greinke outlined some of his concerns with the Royals in the Kansas City Star this summer. Far and away, his biggest issue was that he wasn't sure if or when the Royals would be good. Clearly, he wants to win. And if he wants to win, then New York is as good of a destination as any.