Zack Greinke Reportedly Willing to Accept Trade to Yankees

[teedubya]

****in' Yankees.

The Yankees still have their hearts set on signing Cliff Lee as a free agent, but their chances at getting a guy to ride shotgun to CC Sabathia might not be up in smoke if he remains with the Rangers.

Royals ace Zack Greinke is reportedly OK with the prospect of a trade sending him to the Yankees. That runs counter to earlier reports that Greinke isn't interested in pitching in the highly pressurized New York market, reports that stemmed from the fact that he has a no-trade clause that includes the Yankees. According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, though, Greinke is open to going anywhere with a winning team.

"I wouldn't put it past him to go to New York," Passan's source said. "I don't think he'd rule out anybody. He says he likes New York. Especially because they're winners. He wants to go to a team that wins."

Imagine that, a player who prefers winning to losing. Stop the presses!

Seriously, though, this is eye-opening because it flies in the face of the perceptions about Greinke that have built up over the last couple of years. The no-trade clause mixed with his previous issues with social anxiety disorder and depression made it seem like the atmosphere around a team like the Yankees would make any attempt to add Greinke a non-starter. This would appear to change that equation.

What's more, Passan reports that the Royals have had discussions with the Yankees about a trade that would send Greinke to the Bronx. Obviously such discussions are in very early stages as the Yankees would almost surely prefer signing Lee to spending prospects on a deal for Greinke.

A trade for Greinke, who is 27 and signed for $27 million over the next two seasons, would come at a high price in terms of big-league talent and/or highly regarded prospects. For the Yankees, such a deal would likely have to include Jesus Montero, expected to be the catcher in 2011, and at least one of the top pitching prospects Manuel Banuelos and Dellin Betances.

That's a steep price and there would certainly be other bidders, but the Yankees are likely cheered by the prospect that the cupboard isn't bare if they can't lure Lee to their clubhouse.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/z...de-to-yankees/

[Spott]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

You must not pay much attention to minor league baseball. The Royals are losing talented players NOW because they can't squeeze them all onto the 40 man roster; other teams are raiding the Royals leftovers. That will likely continue in the Rule 5 draft. I can't recall a time when the Royals minor leagues were this top-heavy AND deep with talent. Dayton has literally taken us from the worst system to the best in less than 5 years.

As soon as the ones that are good MLB players hit the majors, they'll end up in NY, Boston, etc. as soon they become free agents.

[Jenson71]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

Yes casual Royals fans, it would be absolutely terrible to trade Greinke's next two years (when we will have no chance at the postseason) for a trade package of young studs that we will control for 6+ years and will arrive in KC at the same time all of our other top prospects come up.

I understand what you're saying. But I think I echo a lot of fans' thoughts when I say that I was hoping we would still have our Cy Young winning ace as a stable veteran will the young (unproven) studs are mature for the big leagues.

But if Grienke wants out, if he's impatient, then we have no choice. But these latest murmurings from Grienke were slightly surprising to me.

It's just hard to be a fan in this environment. We've been putting a lot of hope chips for the future for a number of years now. Hope for the Future has been the virtual Royals fan's mantra for numerous years now. Hope is a great thing, but it can only go so far if there is a realistic backing for it.

Would I be crazy in asking the question that even if the Royals unproven young studs all become All-Stars in 2015, that we would have the financial ability to keep them? What exactly prevents them from being traded or signed to a big market? Like how the core of the Rays team is taking off.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Spott

As soon as the ones that are good MLB players hit the majors, they'll end up in NY, Boston, etc. as soon they become free agents.

Not if the Royals are a winning team. We aren't THAT broke, the Royals can afford a few big contracts. If this were 2014 and the Royals were a playoff team, Greinke would sign an extension. As it is, no one wants to play here without being massively overpaid (Gil Meche) because we aren't winning.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Not if the Royals are a winning team. We aren't THAT broke, the Royals can afford a few big contracts. If this were 2014 and the Royals were a playoff team, Greinke would sign an extension. As it is, no one wants to play here without being massively overpaid (Gil Meche) because we aren't winning.

Not broke at all, in fact.

I think most of us agree that MN is our ideal model, right? Their payroll should be a sign of the times for us, too. I'm ok with not being there yet, but this is where we need to be if our talent develops. Not keeping the foundational pieces will be absurd.

But we'll cross that bridge in a bit...

[kcfanXIII]

i just don't get how the management of a team that has never been right about anything ever, can be trusted when they say "be patient, just a couple more years." i say **** that, and i'm calling for the ownership, and management's heads. not in a metaphorical you're fired way. i want to see david glass's head in one of those jars, like in futurama. only difference would be, i'd want it to be locked in a closet with a bunch of reeruned heads, and every once in a while we could poke our head in and say "just wait till next year, we'll get some intelligent heads in here for you to converse with. we just need you to be patient." but we never will.

[DeezNutz]

The difference is that Glass was, literally, not trying to win until '05/'06. We've invested the necessary money since then to be competitive.

Moore has done a nice job bolstering the farm system. No question.

If you want to be upset about anything, but pissed about the fact that DM has squandered a shit ton of resources at the ML level and shown little ability to construct a viable roster.

We've got all our chips in the draft, and we're hoping that Moore's one apparent strength is enough to offset his shortcomings.

Trey Hillman approves this message.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by kcfanXIII

i just don't get how the management of a team that has never been right about anything ever, can be trusted when they say "be patient, just a couple more years." i say **** that, and i'm calling for the ownership, and management's heads. not in a metaphorical you're fired way. i want to see david glass's head in one of those jars, like in futurama. only difference would be, i'd want it to be locked in a closet with a bunch of reeruned heads, and every once in a while we could poke our head in and say "just wait till next year, we'll get some intelligent heads in here for you to converse with. we just need you to be patient." but we never will.

Dayton Moore has only been here a few years, and the only thing he has arguably failed at is winning in free agent signings. Even then, he's won a few. When it comes to the minor leagues, the man has performed a miracle. You want to complain about what the owner did in the 90's and 2000's? Fine, but he is no longer a major financial obstacle and he's not going anywhere anyway. You want to cross your arms, sit out, and say "show me first", fair enough. They will indeed show you pretty soon. The fans will show up in droves when the Royals begin to win, with or without Greinke.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Good point. I'd much rather the Royals pump $36 million into the minors than dump it on Jose Guillen.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Good point. I'd much rather the Royals pump $36 million into the minors than dump it on Jose Guillen.

It could be that we made the right decision, overall, but it drives me ****ing crazy to hear that we "can't afford" prospects like Porcello and Wieters (which DM said at the time) and then piss away millions on guys like Jason Kendall.

For a team like the Royals, we shouldn't even have a draft "budget," per say. Spend what's necessary to take the top talent in every round. Period. And if first rounders continue to drop (like the Myers and Melvilles of the world), make the pick and run like you stole something.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

It could be that we made the right decision, overall, but it drives me ****ing crazy to hear that we "can't afford" prospects like Porcello and Wieters (which DM said at the time) and then piss away millions on guys like Jason Kendall.

For a team like the Royals, we shouldn't even have a draft "budget," per say. Spend what's necessary to take the top talent in every round. Period. And if first rounders continue to drop (like the Myers and Melvilles of the world), make the pick and run like you stole something.

That's exactly what they are doing. They've been selecting over-slot guys whenever they can and it has been working nicely. I'm not sure I'd rather have Weiters, although I am sure the Royals sweeping the Tigers in the last three meaningless games of the season kept us from Price, which was really upsetting.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

It could be that we made the right decision, overall, but it drives me ****ing crazy to hear that we "can't afford" prospects like Porcello and Wieters (which DM said at the time) and then piss away millions on guys like Jason Kendall.

Right now, I bet most people would take Moustakas over Porcello and Hosmer over Wieters, so maybe DM knew what he was doing at the time.

[Demonpenz]

Grienke says crazy shit. I bet he is open to try hitting left handed with a hurling stick.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

That's exactly what they are doing. They've been selecting over-slot guys whenever they can and it has been working nicely. I'm not sure I'd rather have Weiters, although I am sure the Royals sweeping the Tigers in the last three meaningless games of the season kept us from Price, which was really upsetting.

Within the parameters of a budget, yes, which is exactly the point I was trying to make.

Could be the DM was right all along with the likes of Moosetacos and Hosmer, though.

[kcfanXIII]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Dayton Moore has only been here a few years, and the only thing he has arguably failed at is winning in free agent signings. Even then, he's won a few. When it comes to the minor leagues, the man has performed a miracle. You want to complain about what the owner did in the 90's and 2000's? Fine, but he is no longer a major financial obstacle and he's not going anywhere anyway. You want to cross your arms, sit out, and say "show me first", fair enough. They will indeed show you pretty soon. The fans will show up in droves when the Royals begin to win, with or without Greinke.

and then in a few years when that talent is ready to win, those young stars will disappear like a ****ing magic trick.

[MIAdragon]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I understand your point and many people believe that the Mets won't win as long as Jeff Wilpon is calling the shots.

But with Sandy Alderson, J.P. Ricciardi and Paul Depodesta in the front office and Terry Collins as the manager for the next two years, I'm betting they'll be far more disciplined and competitive in the future than they have been in the past 10 years.

The front office was a zoo. They need to dump salary and bring in players and certainly have the money and fan base to make it happen. It's just a matter of time.

They have the talent to compete, now that they are cleaning house I can see them in the mix in the NL East.