Milwaukee Brewers acquire Zack Greinke from Kansas City Royals
2021-12-28
The Milwaukee Brewers proved that they are dead serious in forming a more formidable team next season when they acquired Zack Greinke from the Kansas City Royals.
The Brewers also acquired shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt plus cash considerations, while sending Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi, and Jeremy Jeffress to the Royals.
Brewers’ general manager Doug Melvin expressed his excitement for successfully acquiring Greinke, despite giving up a lot of talents like prospects Odorizzi and Jeffress. Melvin said that the arrival of Greinke, whom he tagged as one of the top young pitchers today, will give them a big boost next season.
“Zack Greinke is one of the top young pitchers in the game today,” Melvin said in the team’s official statement. “We are very excited to add him to our new rotation. 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.”
Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart also expressed his excitement after hearing the news and he declared that the Brewers would be a tough nut to crack next season, especially after acquiring Shaun Marcum earlier this offseason.
“We were getting better with Marcum, now Greinke,” Hart said. “Brewers are for real!”
Royals general manager Dayton Moore, on the other hand, said that Greinke, who was 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA last season, would be a big loss, but the young players they acquired from Milwaukee would fit in their system and their rotation that also features up-and-coming players.
“We expect to be competitive next year,” Moore said. “We're still working to improve our baseball team.”
Moore also revealed that Greinke, who was 60-67 with a 3.82 ERA in his more than six seasons with the Royals, was very cooperative during the trade talks and the veteran pitcher even agreed to waive the no-trade clause in his contract that he signed on January 2009.
“He was very much open to it at the end of the day,” Moore said. “A big part of my heart will always pull for Zack. 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 reiterated that the decision to deal Greinke was a difficult decision, but they have to make the move in their bid to rebuild for their future. Moore is expecting Greinke to shine in the National League next season.
“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.”
With the deal, the Royals prove that they are dead serious in their rebuilding process and adding Odorizzi, who was one of the top minor league pitching prospects, will give them a boost next season, as well as Escobar and Jeffress, who both had decent performances last season. The Brewers are +2000 to win the National League pennant in 2011 according to the Baseball Odds at the home of MLB betting.