Royals to move Greinke come August, Maybe?


The 2022 season for the Royals has been a dumpster fire beginning with the starting rotation and the bullpen which has led the rest of the team to struggle. Kansas City has one of the youngest rotations in the game today from Brady Singer to Brad Keller. This year's Royals team in fact is full of youthful players from the rotation to the starting nine. However, the team does have some veteran presence on the roster including former six time all-star Zack Greinke and Andrew Benintendi. The Royals and the 38-year old Greinke go back a long way. The Royals drafted Greinke back in 2002 in a blockbuster trade that helped lead the Royals win a World Series in 2015. Former General Manager and current President of Baseball Operations Dayton Moore traded Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Lorenzo Cain, shortstop Alcides Escobar, infielder Yuniesky Betancourt, pitchers Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi. Now, a little over eleven years later, Greinke could be shipped to a contender. Although Greinke is 38 years old this season, the Royals are sure to get plenty of trade interest in the right hander, just probably not to the extent of interest the team received for him in 2010 when he was shipped to Milwaukee. Many Royals fans heading into the 2022 season expected the team to be active in the free agent market for a starting pitcher; but they probably didn't expect Greinke to be the pitcher the organization would sign based on the past few seasons of the Royals signing cheaper options over pitchers like Greinke. However, the team shocked the fanbase when they announced the signing of Greinke on a one year deal worth $13 million dollars with $2 million available in innings bonuses. Shortly after signing with the Royals, Greinke told reporters that Kansas City was his number one choice. Greinke at this stage in his career continues to eat up innings for the teams he has played for, and the Royals this season have most definitely benefited from Greinke's ability to pitch quality starts and go deep into games. Kansas City at this point of the season have been unable to get many innings out of their young pitchers forcing manager Mike Matheny to turn to a struggling bullpen in games much earlier than he and the team have wanted. The 38-year old's return to the metro has certainly proven to be a good move made by the Royals. The right hander, at this point of the season, has thrown a little over 60 innings with a 4.38 ERA. On top of Greinke continuing to eat up innings, he has been able to get hitters out. The Florida native has struck out 32 batters, with still plenty of time to rack up more strikeouts. Despite the team's pitching struggles this season, fans were able to witness Greinke recording his 500th career start, making him the 48th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to start 500 games. The Royals currently sit in dead last in the American League Central with no hopes of reaching the postseason this year, making them sellers as the trade deadline nears. Despite the Royals struggles this season the team has plenty of players that can help a contender, and Greinke is one of them. Before signing with the Royals, other teams showed interest in the veteran starter, including the Blue Jay's, Braves, Rays, and several others. The Royals will be very busy during this trade deadline and should expect a decent haul for Greinke and other potential trade candidates such as Andrew Benintendi and Scott Barlow.

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