The Kansas City Royals are fielding offers from various teams for the services of pitcher Zack Greinke. Because Kansas City has yet to commit to trading him (publicly, at least), they hold the upper hand in all the negotiations. They don't have to trade him and they've done their best to make that clear in order to raise their leverage.
But will they? The excellent Rany On The Royals writes that the odds may be rising of Greinke getting dealt.
Today, I’d put those odds much higher, for two reasons. The first is that with the money that’s flying around this month, Greinke’s contract - $27 million for 2 years – looks even more enticing than ever. Depending on where Cliff Lee ends up, you’ll have at least one and possibly two of the Rangers/Yankees who will be looking for a fallback option, and Greinke for $27/2 looks considerably more appetizing after you’ve just offered Lee $120/5 and been turned down.
Some teams simply can't compete with the Jayson Werth type of money around these days so Greinke, at just (just?) $27 million over the next two years is a bargain.
That's the reason the Royals are waiting it out right now. Let the market set itself with the Cliff Lee's of the world and Greinke will rise from that and look perhaps even more intriguing.
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