Kansas City Royals

The mid 2000’s was not the most memorable period to be an Atlanta Braves fan.  Coming off of three straight first-round exits in the playoffs, there was an unavoidable thought in the Braves community during the ‘04-05 offseason that Atlanta’s reign of supremacy was nearing an end. 

As soon as free agent starting pitcher Cliff Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, all eyes shifted to Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke.

Amid questions of anxiety disorder, the list of teams able to trade for the 2009 Cy Young winner was short.

The New York Yankees, having lost out on signing Lee, seemed likely to target Greinke, but the idea of Greinke being able to handle pitching in New York was a bit far-fetched.

With Zack Greinke only two seasons away from free agency, it was obvious that the Royals would have to deal their ace pitcher. The 27-year old righty would inevitably command a massive salary that Kansas City could not afford to match and hoped to acquire a package of elite prospects rather than risk losing Greinke for nothing.

Following this weekend's trade of Greinke to Milwaukee for four of the organization's top ten prospects, many questions were answered but even more were raised.

After much speculation, the Kansas City Royals finally traded their star pitcher Zack Greinke on Sunday morning, sending shock waves through the rest of the baseball world.

He was traded along with Kansas City's starting shortstop from last season, Yuniesky Betancourt, in exchange for four players. Many have begun to wonder who ended up getting the better end of the deal in this one, but it is just way too early to tell at this point.

When the Milwaukee Brewers traded four prospects for CC Sabathia in 2008, they knew they were getting a player who could propel them into the playoffs but also one who may elect not to sign an extension.

Yesterday afternoon, I talked about the potential trade destinations for Kansas City Royals’ ace Zack Greinke. One of the teams that I thought could be a possibility for Greinke were the Milwaukee Brewers.

Once it was announced that Cliff Lee was signing with the Philadelphia Phillies, Zack Greinke began to receive the most attention among pitchers, with various teams attempting to acquire the 2009 Cy Young winner.

After firing his agent on Friday, 2009 Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke has informed the Kansas City Royals that he wants to be traded, says Foxsports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.

Greinke has a no-trade provision that allows him to block deals to 15 teams. One of the teams is the Yankees, who have expressed interest in the pitcher.

Zack Greinke trade rumors have kicked up a few notches over the last 12 hours after reports surfaced that prized free agent Cliff Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lee's decision to sign with the Phillies over a larger offer from the New York Yankees and extreme interest from the Texas Rangers all but shocked the baseball world.

Lee joins Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in what will be perhaps the top starting rotation in all of baseball.

Zack Greinke's tenure with the Kansas City Royals could very well be coming to an abrupt end this week. 

Although two years still remain on the 2009 AL Cy Young's contract, the Royals are trying to maximize his value by trading him now. They are of course counting on the fact that they likely won't be competing for a playoff spot anytime soon.