Greinke doubts Royals' rebuilding plans....
 

SEATTLE | Zack Greinke isn’t sure he wants to endure the growing pains he knows are coming as the Royals gear up for another youth-based rebuilding plan.

It matters little that growing optimism surrounds numerous prospects currently percolating through the club’s farm system or that raves from outside the organization match in-house assessments for the first time in years.

Greinke greets it with a shrug.

“Every system has something,” he said. “The biggest problem is I have two more years on my contract. Are those guys supposed to make it up by the beginning of next year?”

Tell him, yes, some are projected to reach the majors next year, and Greinke just shakes his head. He seems a resigned skeptic dulled by the hard reality of too many losses over too many years.

“Very rarely,” he argued, “do guys come straight into the big leagues and make an impact, especially hitters. Just look at the top prospects in baseball. Delmon Young was one five years ago, and he’s finally starting to play well.

“Alex Gordon was one four years ago, and he might be starting to play well now. So the problem (with the Royals’ prospects) is that it’s not like as soon as they get here that it’s going to be instant (success). Maybe by 2014.”

Greinke lets that harsh assessment hang in the air for a moment before continuing.

“There’s no reason for me to get real excited about it,” he said, “because the chance of more than one of them making a major impact by the time my contract is up is pretty slim.”

Greinke knows the effect his words will have. While still just 26, he trails only injured outfielder David DeJesus among players on the club’s 40-man roster in continuous service time with the organization.

He knows, too, that as much as he finds it “annoying,” he is the face of the franchise and its most recognizable star. (All-Star closer Joakim Soria, for all his accomplishments, still hears his name mispronounced outside of Kansas City.)

Greinke is a homegrown success story, the American League’s reigning Cy Young Award winner and by 2012, the final year of his contract, will be the highest-paid player in franchise history.

His harsh assessment carries weight, although it’s wrong, he makes clear, to conclude he wants out. Even so, Greinke hedges when asked if he sees himself staying with the Royals beyond 2012.

“It depends more on the team now,” he admitted. “We’ll see. This is at least the third full re-start/rebuilding phase since I’ve been here. And, obviously, none of them have worked. This one hasn’t even really started yet.”

Some of this could be frustration talking, of course.

It’s early August – the onset of baseball’s dog days, when the blues set in on all struggling teams. The Royals find themselves 16 games under .500 at 46-62. Club officials make it clear the final 54 games will be an evaluation period.

And, personally, Greinke is laboring through a disappointing (and perhaps inevitable) drop-off from his Cy Young success. He is 7-10 with a 3.97 ERA entering his start Friday against the Mariners.

“It’s probably more of a grind than any year since 2005,” he said. “This one has been like that one for most of the season.”

Those are sobering words. Greinke came close to a breakdown in 2005. He went 5-17 with a 5.80 ERA and was thoroughly miserable.

The following spring, he quit baseball for a brief period before returning once he was diagnosed and treated for clinical depression and social anxiety. That treatment unlocked his potential and spurred his development into one of the game’s top pitchers.

There’s little reason to suspect a relapse, although the attention surrounding his success likely elevated his stress level. He also got married in the offseason; a life-changing experience under the best of circumstances.

A calmer offseason this winter should help.

What emerges instead from listening to Greinke earlier this week, on a rare occasion when he chose to open up, is that his current discouragement stems, primarily, from the drudgery of losing.

Another roster overhaul might be the Royals’ best chance, perhaps their only chance, to shake the malaise from a lost generation. Greinke doesn’t argue the point. He just views it from a personal perspective.

“It’s not real exciting to have to go through it again,” he said. “It’s been six years with me, and most people (who are Royals fans) have been through a lot more than I have. But for me, it’s the third complete re-start/rebuilding phase.”

Would he be happier elsewhere?

“I like Kansas City,” Greinke said. “It’s a town that fits me pretty well. But I don’t know…at least put a team together that has a fighting chance (to win).”

He means soon. Not 2014.

To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, send e-mail to bdutton@kcstar.com. Follow his updates at twitter.com/Royals_Report.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/05...#ixzz0vnQdGPqs

Sounds like Greinke will be traded next year as it seems he is wanting out of KC. Can't say I blame him but I'd hate to see him go.

Thank you David Glass and Dayton Moore for more or less running off our best pitcher. And the only pitcher worth a damn in the rotation. And the only pitcher you haven't broken yet.

That is some good insight from Greinke. He sounds like a jaded Royals fan.

Cant blame him one bit. Wont blame him one bit if he leaves the worst run franchise in all of professional sports.

25 seasons without playoffs and counting......

Water is wet dude. The team you signed on with will forever be everyone else's farm club.
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At least we don't have to worry about going through a one hour TV show called "The Decision"

It had better serve as a shot across the bowe to Glass and Moore. If you can't keep Greinke then you might as well hang it up. I mean ****, what good player is going to want to come to or stay with this team? Quit signing the Kendall's and Ankiel's and Betancourt's. Start either giving younger guys some playing time or up the $'s for some good players.

Personally I think Zack is still pissed that we let Olivo go. The kid loved pitching to him.

wonder what kind of haul he would bring. not only that, I wonder how he would handle a big city type environment.

Until the Glass family realizes that they might have to endure a few seasons of negative profits to get a good team on the field I think we are doomed to be just that.

He'll be in pinstripes by 2012

I'm about 99% sure he would go insane in the big apple. he's not exactly a guy that can stand the pressure.

I think Zack would get over Olivo fast enough if we brought in Dunn, Gordon actually stays healthy and produces, one of the guys in the minors goes apecrap in KC, and we won a few more games.

And of course if my aunt had a package she'd be my uncle.

I think he could still go to some small teams that will be willing to pay. We would never trade him to Minnesota but you know they would snag him in a NY minute. Oakland, Cinci, Seattle, Texas and Tampa Bay I think would all be teams hungry for him and markets that wouldn't be "too big" for him.

As far as a haul goes I don't know that I would expect too much. Teams will pretty much just hold out until his contract is up and sign him outright.

I honestly don't see Zack in NY/LA/Boston. I see him in Minnesota, Atlanta, or Tampa Bay.

Or Kansas City.

Actually I could see a team like LA Angels grabbing him and paying him big $'s.