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Zack Greinke, Milwaukee Brewers and Sunday’s Latest MLB News.

Zack Greinke became the newest member of the Milwaukee Brewers today when he was traded from Kansas City.

This move is sure to lead to more moves this offseason by teams that are trying to get better. The Yankees and Rangers were both mentioned as possible landing places for Greinke after both franchises whiffed on Cliff Lee.

Now that Greinke is headed elsewhere too, what will each of these contenders do to deal with missing out on another pitching ace?

How does this move affect the Brewers? Are they now one of the favorites in the NL Central?

Stay tuned here for updates on all pieces of this story as well as any other breaking MLB news for the rest of the day.

And as always, be sure to let us know what you think about the signing.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

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.

My logic for putting the Brewers on the list of potential trade destinations was because I felt the Brewers are a win-now team, and putting Greinke in a rotation with Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, and Randy Wolf would give the Brewers a rotation that could compete with anyone in the National League. I guess Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin felt the same way.

Less than 48 hours after asking to be traded from the Royals, Greinke was traded to the Brewers for four players. The Royals will receive OF Lorenzo Cain, SS Alcides Escobar, and pitchers Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi. The Brewers will also receive the ever-so-popular Player To Be Named Later and $2 million in cash from the Royals. The PTBNL has been rumored to be SS Yuniesky Betancourt, but there is no confirmation on that.

With this trade, please welcome the Brewers to the 2011 National League pennant race.

Now the Brewers are on the map again. Now the Brewers, in my opinion, are right there with the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central.

In this offseason, the Brewers went from having a rotation that featured the very average Randy Wolf as their number two starter, to having a guy in Greinke, who won the AL Cy Young just a year ago. Marcum becomes their number three starter, and Wolf moves down to the number four.

In the National League, that is one rock solid rotation.

With the additions of Marcum and Greinke and with their offense, the Brewers are legit contenders in the National League. Many people overlook the fact that the Brewers scored the fourth-most runs in the NL last season. With Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, and Corey Hart, the offense is still there.

I still think the Brewers need one more horse in that bullpen. I am not sold on John Axford at the end of games and I think they could use another guy to help him out late in games.

Now for the Royals side to this deal.

The Royals will be by far and away the worst team in baseball in 2011. I am going to venture to say they will be hard-pressed to win 50 games.

But sometimes in life, you have to reach rock bottom before you can reach the top, and the Royals will reach rock bottom in 2011. I believe the Royals are smart for deploying this strategy.

The Royals aren’t going to win this year and they aren’t going to win next year either. So why not try to get a top-five pick in the draft instead of halfheartedly trying to finish .500 and get the 15th pick in the draft?

The Royals made this trade with 2013 in mind. That is their year. Their farm system is absolutely stacked, and that’s when we will find out if all this building the Royals have done has paid off.

The players the Royals got are a combination of prospects that can help them this year and in the future. Here is a look at the four players the Royals received from the Brewers:

Lorenzo Cain: Cain sounds more like a linebacker from a football movie like “The Program” than a Major League center fielder. But the Royals’ organization is in need of a guy who can player center and Cain will get his shot in Kansas City.

Cain hit .308/.346/.415 with one HR and seven SBs in 158 plate appearances with the big club last season. Cain will be 25 when the season starts next year and throughout his minor league career, he has shown great discipline, as his .366 career minor league OBP indicates.

Alcides Escobar: Escobar was once a super prospect, but had a down rookie year and now everyone is down on him. Funny how that works.

Escobar hit just .235/.288/.326 with four HRs, 10 triples, and 10 SBs in 552 PAs in 2010. He struggled offensively last season, and in turn it affected his defense.

Escobar has never been a big power guy, but I can certainly see him rounding into a guy who hits .280 with 10 triples, 40 steals, and plays a solid short every year. For the Royal fans out there wondering how the acquisition of Escobar affects first round pick Christian Colon? It doesn’t. Colon will be most likely moved to second or third in the future.

Jake Odorizzi: Since I don’t know much about Odorizzi, I am going to let the great Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus handle this one. Here is his scouting report of Odorizzi:

Jeremy Jefress: Jefress is the real wild card in this deal. Jeffress has been suspended twice for marijuana usage and is a couple of years behind his overall development.

He did have a cup of coffee with the Brewers last season and struck out eight in 10 innings of work. He did, however, walk six in those 10 innings. Jeffress, when right, can reach up to the high-90s on his fastball and has just an okay curve.

If Jeffress has his head on straight, he is a guy that really can help the Royals in the future either as a starter or a reliever. I say he becomes a reliever, and Joakim Soria’s replacement in KC.

The Royals have a farm system that is absolutely stacked. Now it’s time for that talent to develop and progress at the Major League level. This trade will only help the Royals get to where they want to be in 2013 and ’14.

As for the Brewers—game on!!!

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

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.

So here is the list of the NL’s ten best pitchers for 2011 and where Greinke falls into the mix now that he has joined Milwaukee.

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Zack Greinke was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers around 9:30 Sunday morning.  Does this announcement make him an automatic favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award?  After all, he did win the award in the American League in 2009.  Here are 10 pitchers who will compete with Greinke for the award in 2011.  

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Zack Greinke is finally on the move. The Kansas City Royals ace was traded today to the Milwaukee Brewers for a collection of top prospects, including shortstop Alcides Escobar, center fielder Lorenzo Cain and pitchers Jeffrey Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi. The Brewers will also receive shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and $2 million in cash.

After two months of debate and speculation, Royals GM Dayton Moore pulled the trigger and sent Greinke to as far away from the AL Central as possible. It’s the second major trade for the Brewers this offseason, who acquired Toronto Blue Jays ace Shawn Marcum for top prospect Brett Lawrie.

But does the combination of Greinke and Marcum suddenly give the Brewers one of the best rotations in the National League? Let’s take a look at where they rank among the top five rotations in the league.

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The Kansas City Royals agreed to trade starting pitcher Zack Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for five players, reports ESPN.

The deal would involve the Brewers giving up Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi.

In return, they get 2009 Cy Young winner Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt, along with some cash.

This deal certainly makes sense for both teams.

Kansas City sure isn’t in a position for a playoff run with Greinke, so they might as well have gotten prospects for maybe five years in the future.

Escobar, a 24-year-old shortstop, completed his first big league season just this year, finishing with an average of .235. On the positive side, he has hit 10 triples. This guy still has the potential to become an above-average everyday shortstop.

Lorenzo Cain is the main part of this deal, being a big time prospect. He hit .317 last year between Double A and Triple A. Add 20 stolen bases and a .400 OBP, and you’ve got something special.

Odorizzi is a pitcher that is at the Single A level as of right now, pitching to a 3.43 ERA.

Jeffress jumped throughout the Brewers organization, between Single A, Single A-plus, and Double A, posting a 1.26 ERA at Double A to finish the season.

This opens up a more positive future for Ned Yost and his club.

On the other side, Betancourt is just an average everyday shortstop, posting a .259 average and driving in 78 RBI.

And as you know, Zack Greinke will solidify the rotation along with another newly acquired Shaun Marcum.

Greinke might end up like Roy Halladay, who thrived even more in the National League with a Cy Young Award to his resume.

Also, Milwaukee isn’t a place with New York style media, making it a good place for Greinke, considering the fact that he deals with social anxiety disorder.

The Brewers aren’t in the rebuilding stage, either unlike the Royals.

It’s a win-win trade for both clubs.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

According to ESPNs Buster Olney (click here for the article) the Royals have traded Zack Greinke and SS Yuniesky Betancourt to the Milwaukee Brewers for SS Alcides Escobar, OF Lorenzo Cain, P Jake Odorizzi and P Jeremy Jeffress.

The Brewers paid a hefty price, but certainly got their money’s worth.  With a one-two punch of Greinke and Yovani Gallardo at the top of the rotation, with Shaun Marcum filling the No. 3 spot, the team suddenly has a formidable rotation that should help them compete in the NL Central.  It certainly would appear that they are going for it in 2011, making a potential Prince Fielder trade significantly less likely (unless they are out of it at the trading deadline).

Greinke would’ve been considered among the Top 20 starting pitchers if he spent the year in Kansas City, but moving to the NL certainly helps his value.  His K/9 fell to 7.40 last season, but a rebound to 8.00 or better could easily be in the cards now. 

You also would’ve expected an improvement from last year’s 4.17 ERA (he did suffer from some bad luck, with a 65.3% strand rate), but a move to NL should make it a lock and potentially significantly so.  We have more strikeouts, a better ERA and a significantly better opportunity for wins.  What’s not to like?  He came it at No. 17 in our most recent starting pitcher rankings (click here to view), but certainly moves up a few spots now.  Consider him a low-end SP1/high-end SP2 now that he’s found a home in the NL.

As for the other players moved in the deal, Escobar figures to get the biggest boost in value.  He leaves a place that rarely gave him a chance to run (as well as hit him at the bottom of the order), to go to a team where he will get a shot to leadoff and show off his wheels.  Remember, he had 42 SB in 430 AB at Triple-A in 2009, before attempting just 14 SB in 506 AB for the Brewers last season.

The Royals are a rebuilding team looking for a sparkplug at the top of the order and Escobar certainly brings that potential.  They have no illusions of competing in 2011, so he should be given every chance to grow into the role, where he could thrive for years to come.  He was a Top 15 option prior to the trade (click here to view), but now could easily be considered a low-end Top 10 option and is likely usable in all formats.

Cain will join a crowded outfield, with Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur.  Jarrod Dyson, who was thought to be in the mix for the centerfield job and leadoff spot is probably now ticketed back to Triple-A.  Cabrera and Cain could share time in center, but we all know Cabrera is not the greatest of offensive threats.  Cain at least brings some speed (33 SB across three levels in ‘10) and could be a low-end option in five-outfielder formats if he wins the job outright (as he should).  He certainly brings more to the table and should see plenty of action.

Odorizzi was in Single-A in 2010 going 7-3 with a 3.43 ERA and 135 K in 120.2 innings.  Prior to 2010 Baseball America ranked him as the Brewers ninth best prospect, saying “His free and easy delivery and good extension allow his heater to get in on hitters quickly, and it features good sink and armside run. He also features a curveball that’s a plus pitch at times. He throws strikes and shows good poise and competitiveness.”  The 20-year old is still a ways away, but he has plenty of potential.

Jeffress has had problems with illegal drugs in the past and has been transitioned to the bullpen, but throws the ball extremely hard (has been said that he’s hit 100 mph with his fastball).  He posted a 2.70 ERA with 8 K in 10 innings for the Brewers in 2010 and figures to slide right into the Royals pen.  Could he develop into a back-end type option?  In time, but I wouldn’t expect him to get there yet meaning he is not likely to have fantasy appeal in 2011.

Both teams got significant value, with Greinke and Escobar likely being the biggest winners.  What are your thoughts?  Who won?  Who lost?

Make sure to check out our early 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Second Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• Top 20 Starting Pitchers
• 2011 Fantasy Draft First Round Breakdown

THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Two Milwaukee websites are reporting the Milwaukee Brewers have tentatively reached an agreement with the Kansas City Royals to acquire right-handed pitcher Zack Greinke. The trade is pending a physical by Greinke and could be announced on Monday.

Earlier in the offseason, it was thought the Brewers didn’t have the proper pieces to complete a trade for the former AL Cy Young Award winner. In fact, the Brewers traded their top prospect, Brett Lawrie, to the Blue Jays for starter Shawn Marcum.

In turn, the Brewers will send shortstop Alcides Escobar, centerfielder Lorenzo Cain and pitchers Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi to the Royals. Escobar was thought to be the shortstop of the future, which led to the trade of J.J. Hardy to the Twins last offseason for centerfielder Carlos Gomez. Gomez was splitting time in center with Cain this season, who was also mentioned in trade talks with the Atlanta Braves.

Jeremy Jeffress has been a top pitching prospect for the Brewers for several years, but he has had problems with substance abuse and has twice been suspended for marijuana use. Jake Odorizzi was ranked as the organization’s top-rated pitching prospect, but he’s never pitched above low Single-A ball for the Brewers.

Greinke would pair with Yovani Gallardo to form a very formidable one-two punch for the Brewers. Along with the recently acquired Marcum and a returning Randy Wolf, the Brewers would suddenly have four very capable starting pitchers. Are they the equal of the Four Aces in Philly? Of course not, but the Brewers would certainly have the pitching ammunition to compete with the Cardinals and Reds for the Central Division title in 2011.

If nothing else, give Brewers GM Doug Melvin credit for being a man of his word. His stated goal during the past two years has been to improve the pitching. He only brought in one quality starter last winter, but with Marcum and possibly Greinke this year, he has turned the Brewers into a very balanced team.

To read more by Jesse Motiff, click here.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Doug Melvin has already traded for Shaun Marcum, a solid pitcher, to bolster the Brewers starting staff. Melvin has said he plans to go get another starter.  In that case, one down, one to go.

While drastically improving the starting rotation is a huge step, that isn’t the Brewers’ only roadblock to competing with the Reds and Cardinals for the NL Central in 2011.

Let’s examine 12 things that the Brewers must do in order to get where they need to go.

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While all of the big chips in free agency have fallen this season, a team looking to make a big splash will need to turn to the trade market, and there may be no more intriguing trade chip than Prince Fielder.

Whether he is traded in the offseason or at the deadline, it seems a foregone conclusion that Fielder is on his way out of Milwaukee with the Brewers unable to re-sign him.

So here are eight deals that make sense, not only for the team acquiring Fielder, but also for the Brewers, as they look to bolster their pitching and fill what will then be a hole at first base.

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