The Kansas City Royals did what we all knew they had to do -- trade Zack Greinke. GM Dayton Moore shipped him off to the Milwaukee Brewers and the reaction has been mixed. Some wanted a superstar in return while Moore says he got the type of guys he wanted in the deal.
There's much to discuss with the Greinke trade. Here's what people are saying:
Royals trade Greinke to Brewers - KansasCity.com
"This is what I call a ‘now’ trade," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was a costly trade. We gave up a lot of good, young players."
Without Greinke, we’re Royal blue - KansasCity.com
Remember when Mike Sweeney went through this? He took less than market value to try to win in Kansas City, a noble move that quickly backfired into back injuries and 100-loss seasons and made him the No. 1 target of Royals fan anger. Greinke did the opposite. He signed an extension two years ago, yes, but within the last year began to make it clear he wanted out. His social anxiety issues will always be part of the discussion, but he could have done more to help his teammates.
Bluebird Links and Greinke Reaction - Bluebird Banter
I think the Jays got a pretty good haul for Halladay considering that AA's back was against the wall, but I'm not really that impressed with the group that Greinke got KC. Also, I'm not sure what the hurry was. Was this really the only offer out there? Were teams like the Yankees, Angels, Rangers, Nationals and Jays not interested at all? Why not sit on this deal for a few weeks and try to drive up other teams prices?
Trading aces: The good and bad of dealing Greinke | The Star's Blog on the Royals and Baseball
"To deal Zack Greinke in 2008, or in that offseason, it was sort of like stabbing in the dark," Moore said. "Because you just don’t know what you have in your system… "We now have a very realistic view of the timeline of many of our players. So if we are to ultimately make a deal with any of our major-league talent, we know exactly what we need to get in return."
Kansas City Royals had to trade Zack Greinke, and he landed with the Brewers - ESPN
Kansas City's trade package for Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt looks more like Mark Teixeira Lite. Moore got a shortstop (Alcides Escobar) who posted a .288 on base percentage last season, and a center fielder (Lorenzo Cain) with some ability, but no amazing, off-the-charts tool. He landed a young pitcher (Jake Odorizzi) who has lots of promise but spent 2010 in the Class A Midwest League, and another pitcher (former first-round draft pick Jeremy Jeffress) who served two suspensions for marijuana use in the minor leagues.
Baseball Prospectus | Transaction Analysis: The Greinke Trade
Odorizzi is arguably the prize, because he's an athletic, hard-throwing prospect with consistent 90-something velocity and a nice breaker with the upside to be a quality starter in the front end of a rotation (albeit perhaps shy of acedom). Just as happily, the Brewers have handled him carefully since making him a supplemental first-rounder in 2008. If the estimate that he reaches the majors to stay in 2013 is correct, he'll be just 23 years old when he's in a position to give the Royals an answer on his potential, assuming no injuries in the meantime.
Kansas City Nabs Four Young Players for Greinke | FanGraphs Baseball
Cain, 24, has certainly shown flashes of promise but he’s also posted massive strikeout rates (21.3 K% in double-A, which is one of his lower rates) throughout his career despite below average power numbers (.111 ISO). He does show good patience, so there is hope for him at the top of the batting order if he can curb his Ks. Cain showed improved base running skills in 2010 but has a history of getting thrown out a lot. I see him more as a strong fourth or platoon outfielder; I just don’t think he’s going to be a consistent everyday player. He’s survived with very high BABIPs throughout his career and I find it hard to believe he’s going to remain that far above average for an extended period of time at the MLB level.
Price was just too high for Zack Greinke - Dallas Texas Rangers Blog - ESPN Dallas
First of all, no one in this market has pushed harder for Greinke than Jamey Newberg, who was proposing trades for Greinke before he won the 2009 Cy Young Award. Newberg analyzes the deal here and notes that the price was just too high if the comparables written by a few respected people in the industry are correct.