Most of this is already known, but it’s worth revisiting anyway.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com noted Thursday evening that Royals right-hander Zack Greinke can reject a move to 15 major league teams via a no-trade clause in his contract. (Got it)
The Yankees, Red Sox and Nationals are all on that list. (Got most of that, too)
The Rangers, Angels and Tigers, however, are not. (Some of that is new)
Greinke has expressed a strong desire to leave Kansas City, so none of this stuff might matter in the long run if he really wants to get out of town. But it’s safe to assume that the right-hander’s past anxiety issues have a lot to do with his decision to name cities like New York, Boston and D.C. on his no-trade list. Most young pitchers would eat up the idea of big city attention, but Greinke doesn’t seem to operate like most pitchers.
The market for the ace right-hander is expected to pick up in the next few weeks now that Cliff Lee is signed, sealed, delivered. A host of teams are interested, but it’s going to take a serious package of prospects to get a deal worked out.
Jayson Stark of ESPN.com heard earlier this month that the Royals are looking for “up-the-middle” youngsters: shortstops, second basemen and center fielders. Kansas City already has a ton of pitching talent coming through the pipeline, along with a future stud catcher in Wil Myers, a future slugger in first baseman Eric Hosmer and a potential star third baseman in Mike Moustakas.
Let the bidding begin.
