Zach Greinke traded to the Milwaukee Brewers

The 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner has been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League. It is a huge move for the Brewers who now have control over Greinke for two more years at the cost of 27 million dollars. Before we get to all of that let us look at the details of this deal:

• The Brewers get Zach Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt and 2 million dollars to cover Betancourt’s salary
• The Kansas City Royals get OF Lorenzo Cain, SS Alcido Escobar, Pitcher Jake Odorizzi, and a player to be named later

Now for the Brewers they add Greinke to a starting rotation of Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, and Randy Wolf. They now have a starting rotation to lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals one of their divisional rivals. They have now traded away a number of young talents, and many of the guys in this trade were either first round draft picks, or their top prospects, while they have held onto 1B Prince Fielder. This seems to indicate that the Brewers think they can compete in the NL right now.

The Royals are not ready to compete right now, and can wait out while one of two of these prospects develop. Cain has speed and athleticism that could serve him very well. In 148 MLB games he is an above .300 hitter. Escobar is a great defensive short stop, and was the Brewers top prospect according to Baseball America. He does struggle at the plate, but the Royals would like to develop him into a leadoff guy down the road. The pitching part of this is a prospect that has had some trouble, but also has a lot of talent.

Related Links:

• Milwaukee Brewers news and notes
• Kansas City Royals news and notes
• Joshua Lobdell.com