Greinke the Skeptic

The Greinke trade has been analyzed by the experts and broken down by the sabermetric geeks and the consensus is, well, there is no consensus. Some say the Royals got a great haul, like Buster Olney, but others feel they gave away their best pitcher in the last decade to add little to an already loaded farm system; Keith Law. I'm aligning myself with the former, but on a more moderate platform, like Rany Jazayerli. The Royals added a lot, but the fact that they had to make the trade is a complete failure on the behalf of Dayton Moore and the franchise. Zack Greinke didn't care if he played in the big market (New York, Boston, etc), he just wanted to pitch for playoff team, which is something Royals failed to accomplish during his time with the club.

But didn't Greinke know that the Royals have the best minor league system in baseball? Hadn't he heard of the massive numbers the Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, and Wil Myers were putting up? Didn't someone tell him about the wealth of lefty arms that could complement him in the starting rotation in Mike Montgomery, Chris Dwyer, and Danny Duffy? 

Unfortunately for the Royals, Greinke had heard this before during former GM Allard Baird's days, however, this time he wasn't buying it. He had seen the fair share of can't-miss prospects that were suppose to surround him like Alex Gordon, come up to the majors and, well, miss. He no longer believed in or "trusted the process" that he was told to trust the seven years he was there. And who can blame him? If anything his comments toward the end of the 2010 season that doubted the future success of the franchise, brought him closer to Royals' fans. 

I've never been as excited about the Royals' future as am I currently, but I'm still pessimistic about the Royals going to the playoffs for the first time in my lifetime, aren't you? As a Royals fan I've been told year after year to "trust the process," and for some crazy reason I'm still listening. Greinke, however, is not anymore.