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Post by mexicanjunior on Dec 20, 2010 8:33:16 GMT -6
No Greinke for us...I guess time was up after all. sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5935586MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers are going all in for 2011, acquiring former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke in a trade with the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals announced Sunday that they acquired shortstop Alcides Escobar, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and right-handed pitching prospects Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress from the Brewers in exchange for Greinke, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and cash considerations.
"Zack Greinke is one of the top young pitchers in the game today," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said in a statement. "We are very excited to add him to our new rotation.
You can say Milwaukee's system has been cleaned out, but the Brewers' starting rotation is now among baseball's best, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney writes. Blog
"Zack brings great physical skills and athleticism to the team and is an outstanding competitor. This trade is a credit to our scouting and player development staff as their hard work and judgment provided us the talented prospects that Kansas City will be receiving. I also appreciate the support of ownership in making this deal."
Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart said the move, along with a previous trade for starter Shaun Marcum, makes the Brewers a solid contender.
"We were getting better with Marcum, now Greinke," Hart said in a text message to The Associated Press. "Brewers are for real!"
Brewers slugger Ryan Braun said the deal was "amazing" in a separate text message.
"Don't really know him much yet but really looking forward to getting to know him!" he said.
Royals general manager Dayton Moore said the deal made sense for Kansas City because the young players they acquired from Milwaukee fit into what is expected to be a wave of promising young players coming up through their system. Third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer could join the big league club this year.
"We expect to be competitive next year," Moore said. "We're still working to improve our baseball team."
Moore indicated it took some direct talks between he and Greinke before the pitcher agreed to waive the no-trade clause in his contract.
"He was very much open to it at the end of the day," Moore said.
Greinke was 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA for the Royals last season. It was a step back from his standout 2009 season, when he went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and won the Cy Young award.
There are two years left on the four-year, $38 million contract he signed with the Royals in January 2009. He is due $13.5 million each of the final two seasons, although the Brewers got an undisclosed amount of cash back from the Royals as part of the deal.
Greinke is 60-67 with a 3.82 ERA in six-plus seasons with the Royals. He sat out most of the 2006 season because of an anxiety disorder and considered quitting baseball.
"A big part of my heart will always pull for Zack," Moore said. "What he overcame, the success he had here, to the point it's not easy to make these types of deals. You would prefer to have him here and sign him long-term but it just wasn't something we could do."
Moore expects Greinke to thrive in the National League.
"This guy's one of the best fielding pitchers in the game," Moore said. "You can't bunt on him. He holds runners. He's a studier. I think he's going to do terrific."
Reports of a potential deal sending Greinke to Milwaukee surfaced online late Saturday.
With the deal, the Brewers have taken two big steps to bolster their starting rotation -- the team's main weak spot in back-to-back disappointing seasons. Earlier this month, Milwaukee made a trade with Toronto to obtain Marcum for highly regarded infield prospect Brett Lawrie.
It's an indication the Brewers are serious about making a playoff run in 2011 -- presumably making it far less likely that the team would trade first baseman Prince Fielder, who can become a free agent at the end of the season and has been the subject of widespread trade speculation.
Melvin also went all-in in 2008 with a trade for CC Sabathia, who led the team to the playoffs. With the acquisition of Greinke, the Brewers' starting staff is closer to par with Philadelphia and San Francisco in the National League.
This month's deals for starting pitching have cost Milwaukee promising young prospects who might have figured prominently in its future -- and could help the Royals' rebuilding effort.
Escobar was the Brewers' primary shortstop last season but struggled at the plate, batting .235 with 41 RBIs. Cain played 43 games for the Brewers last season, batting .306 with 13 RBIs.
Jeffress made 10 appearances for the Brewers last season, going 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA. He has been suspended twice under baseball's drug policy.
Odorizzi was perhaps the Brewers' top minor league pitching prospect, and agent Jason Wood said the team tried "very hard" to keep his client out of the deal.
"You know what? It's a nice compliment that the Royals thought highly enough of Jake to include him in the deal," Wood said. "It's quite flattering and Jake takes it as a compliment.
"I think the Royals have a quality player and person," Wood said. "Zack Greinke is a Cy Young winner who had a phenomenal year." |
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 20, 2010 10:33:27 GMT -6
Oh well...on to Matt Garza.
If that doesn't work we'll do what we did last year. Put ourselves in position to make a deadline deal for a pitcher that is pitching well on a team that sucks. At least then you know how the guy has been doing before you deal for him.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Dec 20, 2010 11:30:36 GMT -6
we need to get that matt garza deal done ASAP
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 20, 2010 13:20:05 GMT -6
not really...we need to not get the azz rapez just because we think we have to replace Cliff Lee. We didn't have him to start last year. There is nothing to say we won't be able to add an ace next year at the deadline if needed.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Dec 20, 2010 14:51:49 GMT -6
not really...we need to not get the azz rapez just because we think we have to replace Cliff Lee. We didn't have him to start last year. There is nothing to say we won't be able to add an ace next year at the deadline if needed. i certainly don't want us to get trade raped, BUT it also seems like after losing out on LeeBron, we've gone all the way to the side of not wanting to part with ANY prospects don't give up scheppers AND perez, but at least be willing to give up scheppers OR perez prospects are the commodity, and we are loaded with them - even so, we can't expect to become a champion based solely on waiting for those prospects to pan out...remember "DVD"  (epic fail) i just don't want them continuing to do nothing but sign a bunch of japanese juco players, like they've been doing the past couple of weeks |
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 20, 2010 15:58:41 GMT -6
I MIGHT give up Scheppers or Perez, but I've read they are also asking for Borbon and another elite level position prospect. That means giving up basically your best outfield prospect, infield prospect, and pitching prospect? I don't think so....
I'm not willing to make a trade simply for the sake of making one. Remember, the guys in charge know alot of things you don't. They know how close the young guys actually are. They are in a much better position to decide what gambles are worth it and which ones aren't.
Case in point, I think they are hesitant to make that kind of move and destroy the top level of the farm system because they believe that Holland might be about to take that next step (kind of like Danks when we traded him) and Scheppers and/or Perez might be up next year working in the bullpen and getting major league innings.
Colby Lewis was essentially a Japanese juco last year. What do we do last year without him?
They know more than you. Relax a little and let the offseason play out.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Dec 20, 2010 16:03:22 GMT -6
I MIGHT give up Scheppers or Perez, but I've read they are also asking for Borbon and another elite level position prospect. That means giving up basically your best outfield prospect, infield prospect, and pitching prospect? I don't think so.... I'm not willing to make a trade simply for the sake of making one. Remember, the guys in charge know alot of things you don't. They know how close the young guys actually are. They are in a much better position to decide what gambles are worth it and which ones aren't. Case in point, I think they are hesitant to make that kind of move and destroy the top level of the farm system because they believe that Holland might be about to take that next step (kind of like Danks when we traded him) and Scheppers and/or Perez might be up next year working in the bullpen and getting major league innings. Colby Lewis was essentially a Japanese juco last year. What do we do last year without him? They know more than you. Relax a little and let the offseason play out. you make some good points i just get nervous watching other teams get better while we remain status quo |
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 20, 2010 16:27:33 GMT -6
Who were the last teams standing last year in the AL?
Yankees, Twins, Rays, Rangers.
Rays are looking to deal their pitching because they are cheap. Yankees have struck out so far, not landing any of the guys they were going for either. Twins got pounded by the Yankees, who got pounded by us.
We have a TON of young talent getting better. Our growth can easily come from within.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Dec 20, 2010 16:33:30 GMT -6
Who were the last teams standing last year in the AL? Yankees, Twins, Rays, Rangers. Rays are looking to deal their pitching because they are cheap. Yankees have struck out so far, not landing any of the guys they were going for either. Twins got pounded by the Yankees, who got pounded by us. We have a TON of young talent getting better. Our growth can easily come from within. yes, but history shows only a percentage of our "can't miss" prospects will actually pan out - so it's important that we hedge our bets by not relying solely on internal growth |
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 20, 2010 17:02:22 GMT -6
I'm not talking about the guys in the minors. I'm talking about Kinsler, Borbon, Andrus, Holland, Hunter, Mitch Moreland, Kirkman, Chris Davis, nearly ANYBODY at 3rd base except Michael Young on defense....TONS of places with semi-proven players where we have room for improvement.
It would also be nice to see Nellie Cruz and Kinsler stay healthy for a full season or close to it.
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 20, 2010 17:02:51 GMT -6
We have a VERY young MAJOR LEAGUE team...lots of room to grown there.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Dec 20, 2010 17:10:08 GMT -6
We have a VERY young MAJOR LEAGUE team...lots of room to grown there. i totally agree on the younger guys who have already proven themselves at the big league level (the ones you mentioned) i was talking about the guys who haven't yet seen arlington |
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Dec 20, 2010 17:17:17 GMT -6
and I'm talking about improving the TEXAS RANGERS from within...not the Frisco Roughriders. The Rangers can be better just with our really young guys being better, more consistent, and healthier. Any combination of those 3 kinds of improvement by just a couple of the guys, and we are a much better team.
You can knock about 1 or 2 runs off the team ERA just by moving ANYONE to 3rd base in place of Young. Lay a bat out there and it will stop more ground balls than he does.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Dec 20, 2010 17:21:20 GMT -6
You can knock about 1 or 2 runs off the team ERA just by moving ANYONE to 3rd base in place of Young. Lay a bat out there and it will stop more ground balls than he does. good schtick |
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Post by matt51180 on Dec 21, 2010 7:49:42 GMT -6
You can knock about 1 or 2 runs off the team ERA just by moving ANYONE to 3rd base in place of Young. Lay a bat out there and it will stop more ground balls than he does. +2 |
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(epic fail)