MLB Trade Rumors

Now that the Kansas City Royals have dealt away their former Cy Young Award-winning ace, Zack Greinke, they really only have a handful of talented players left, and certainly not enough to compete in the near future. 

They have officially entered the rebuilding phase yet again, and for Royals fans that's probably not too comforting, seeing as they have been chasing that elusive second World Series title since 1985.  In fact, they haven't had a winning season since 2003, when they went 83-79, and haven't even made the playoffs since winning their lone title in 1985.

The Los Angeles Dodgers appeared to be in good shape up until last season.  In each of the previous two seasons, they had reached the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies. Then in 2010, the wheels came off and the Dodgers fell apart.  This caused them to trade Manny Ramirez away, eating a large sum of his money.

The Boston Red Sox have been linked with Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder for several seasons now, but with Boston's recent acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez from San Diego, are they finished with their pursuit of Fielder?

Gonzalez is a first baseman too, and has a better glove than Fielder. With Kevin Youkilis likely to begin the 2011 season at third base, there is no room for Fielder at Fenway Park.

After the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Zack Greinke, it became much more unlikely that they will look to trade All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder. However, there is a chance he still could be had for the right price, since he is slated to become a free agent after this season.

Fielder could serve as a piece to bring in more players to build around for the future. If the Brewers are not in contention at the trade deadline, they could focus on acquiring players to help them in 2012 and beyond.

Despite snow falling over most of the country, Major League Baseball—smack dab in the middle of its wheeling and dealing phase—is at its busiest around the holidays.

Some big names have already changed teams, but there are just as many who have yet to pack their bags.

Here are 10 that could find themselves in a new city—or with a new paycheck—by Christmas.

After getting spurned by top free agents from Cliff Lee to Carl Crawford and failing to make a trade for an impact arm such as Zack Greinke, the New York Yankees currently sit as a team that is certainly no better than last year's version, and may be even worse.

If the Yankees cannot entice longtime great Andy Pettitte out of retirement, the rotation could feature multiple minor leaguers and castaways.

MLB trade rumors are still circulating and teams are not done wheeling and dealing.

Teams that missed out on the big free agents and hot trade targets will still be looking to reload.

Whether that means they have to give up a number of hot prospects in a trade, or give a player a contract above his market value in order to steal him away from suitors, which teams are ready to gamble in order to improve their outlook for the upcoming season?

Heading into the offseason, the Yankees considered themselves favorites to land Cliff Lee, and the Rangers definitely thought they had a chance. The Angels though they could sign Carl Crawford, and several teams around the league believed they could bring in Zack Greinke.

With all three players off the market—Lee in Philly, Greinke in Milwaukee and Crawford in Boston—GM's around baseball are scrambling to find that backup plan, fill their budgets and put a competitive team on the field heading into 2011.

Well it seems things are changing in Brewer-land. The powers that be have, once and for all, determined that starting pitching may just be the way to win games and possibly even championships. Apparently, it took the San Francisco Giants winning big to hammer that point home.

So now that Zack Greinke is a Brewer, what makes it a good fit? You see it all the time where free-agents or traded players struggle in their new surroundings.

The Milwaukee Brewers pulled the trigger on a big-time trade Sunday, and no it wasn't the much talked-about Prince Fielder move, as they acquired disgruntled Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke.

That begs the question, where does Greinke fall in amongst the best of the National League? Between the St. Louis Cardinals duo of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, the Philadelphia Phillies "Big Four" and the San Francisco Giants duo of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, among others, the NL is not short on great starting pitching.