Greinke traded to Milwaukee; Latest -- more on how it came about

[Gobias Industries]

Do we still sign Capuano for depth? Compete with Narveson for the fifth spot.

[Invader3K]

Do we still sign Capuano for depth? Compete with Narveson for the fifth spot.

If he comes cheap enough. I wouldn't pay him more than a million, plus some incentives.

[Yeti73]

Quite a change for Lucroy over the past two years, catching AA pitchers two years ago, AAAA pitchers and Gallardo last year and All-stars this year

[JJHardy7]

Talk to a Royals fan instead of just using metrics as you will find that Betencourt is liuke Weeks from 2 years ago.....makes insanely ridiculously good plays then screws up his footwork the next.....The people on here that are saying he is worthless should be dismissed. I think his lack of a batting eye at the plate (5th in the league at swinging at pitches out of the strike zone) could be helped by placing him in the 8 spot in front of the pitcher.

 

How you can you defend his complete lack of walks? Should we dismiss those numbers as well? Bentancourt had 6 more walks than Gomez...it about 300 more at-bats...

[Team Canada]

Talk to a Royals fan instead of just using metrics as you will find that Betencourt is liuke Weeks from 2 years ago.....makes insanely ridiculously good plays then screws up his footwork the next.....The people on here that are saying he is worthless should be dismissed.

Right, because it's only people on this forum that are saying he's a terrible player.

[bthurley19]

Thank you ESPN for the new avatar.

[Warning Track Power]

Wow, wow and wow...I would never have imagined this would happen. My delirium over the trade is muted only by the loss of Cain and Odorizzi. My thoughts:

 

-Escobar's loss is nothing to me. Never was an Escobar guy and was upset when JJ left because of him. Guys like Escobar are not all that special to me and I am not going to flinch about his loss regardless of his replacement.

-Jeffress looks more and more like a career RP. I just don't know he will stay away from the marijuana and additionally you don't not make this deal because of Jeffress' inclusion.

-Cain hurts no doubt. His potential as a top of the lineup #2 contact hitter will no doubt be missed because of the lack of a replacement. His D will be replaced by Gomez who at least is a fantastic defensive player. But Cain is the type of player I love and I for one hopes he does fantastic in KC.

-Odorizzi is no doubt a pitching stud and his loss could be big 5 years from now. However, the Brewers everyday lineup is in its prime across the board and the win now mentality makes an Odorizzi expendable. Like I said, 5 years from now it may hurt but Greinke could still be an ace in his back end of his prime by the time Odorizzi is in the Bigs.

 

I know this seems like Fielder will undoubtedly stay for 2011, but I would at least make the call to the Yankees and inquire about Brett Gardner's availability.

 

In the end, all I can ask for for the rest of the offseason...(crossing fingers, toes, arms, legs)

#1. Please extend Rickie

#2. Please extend Marcum

and above all

#3 PLEASE EXTEND GREINKE!

 

Thank you Mr. Attanasio and Mr. Melvin. On paper at least we should be in serious contention next season.

[Invader3K]

Thank you ESPN for the new avatar.

Wow, now that was quick!

[Team Canada]

DM talks to TH:

I just spoke on the telephone with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who is in a car with his wife at the wheel, coming back from visiting his parents in Canada and headed back to Milwaukee.

Melvin said I was the first member of the media he has talked to about the Zack Greinke trade, so I am very honored.

"This is what I call a 'now' trade, getting a player of his ability," said Melvin, who indicated the trade was "90% complete" last night and finished this morning.

"I feel like I've acquired a CC Sabathia except for two years and maybe longer. It feels good. It was a costly trade. We gave up a lot of good, young players. This is a credit to our scouting and player development people to have the kind of young players it takes to make a trade like this."

Melvin said he had made a couple of runs at Greinke this winter without being able to make a deal. Then, when he heard a prospective trade with Washington fell through because Greinke used his no-trade clause, Melvin said, "I decided to try this one more time."

Milwaukee also was on Greinke's no-trade list but he recently switched agents to the CAA group and the Brewers have a good relatinship with them, including outfielders Ryan Braun and Corey Hart. Greinke agreed to drop the no-trade and the deal was done.

"It's the player's decision," said Melvin. "It's an indication he wanted to come to Milwaukee and thinks we have a chance to compete and win the division."

Melvin said he had no qualms about the social anxiety issues that plagued Greinke in 2006.

"That was early in his career," said Melvin. "I've talked to people who say he's a good athlete, a good competitor. They say he can swing the bat, too. Here's a guy who wants to compete and has drive."

Melvin said Yuniesky Betancourt, who came with Greinke in the trade, will be the starting shortstop and likes his offense and says his defense is underrated.

"I think he's an exciting player who is still young," said Melvin. "He led their club in RBI. I think he will do OK in the field."

Melvin said he never made an offer to free-agent pitcher Carl Pavano, that he switched course and went for Greinke instead. Melvin called Pavano's agent, Tom O'Connell, to tell him he was getting Greinke instead.

I also asked Melvin if this meant he'll be keeping first baseman Prince Fielder, a free agent after 2011, and going for the playoffs in 2011.

"You never say never," said Melvin. "I said a few weeks ago I didn't want to trade Lorenzo Cain. But my vision is having Prince on this ball club and keeping our impact bats intact.

"We needed to make some big changes with our pitching and I think we've done that with Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke. I'm excited. This is all about getting both of those pitchers. I live for young guys. I love their emotion and energy. But these guys are young, too. I think coming to Milwaukee will energize Zack a bit."

[Mr QL]

Well this certainly made next season a whole lot more interesting.

 

Bring back Craig Counsell for starting SS.

[clancyphile]

Or... extend Prince, Marcum, Greinke, and Rickie.

 

Prince has to feel the Brewers are serious about winning.

[sbrylski]

Melvin said Yuniesky Betancourt, who came with Greinke in the trade, will be the starting shortstop and likes his offense and says his defense is underrated.

 

"I think he's an exciting player who is still young," said Melvin. "He led their club in RBI. I think he will do OK in the field."

 

Please be lip service.

[PeaveyFury]

Prince has to feel the Brewers are serious about winning.

 

I think that's a good point. The problem of his agent still remains..... I don't think anyone would argue that Prince wouldn't be happy to stay here if the Brewers end up with a competitive offer. The problem is that the Brewers can't afford what Boras will want.

[jazzytrav]

I think it's time to update the Power 50 when four of the top five are gone http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

But getting Greinke and Marcum out of it is quite a haul. Well-played, Doug.

[bigredrobbo]

Melvin said Yuniesky Betancourt, who came with Greinke in the trade, will be the starting shortstop and likes his offense and says his defense is underrated.

 

"I think he's an exciting player who is still young," said Melvin. "He led their club in RBI. I think he will do OK in the field."

 

Please be lip service.

DM translation - "we realize he's a piece of crap but we REALLY wanted Greinke and KC wouldn't play otherwise"

[And That]

There will be a new Power 50 at some point before Baseball America releases their Brewers top 10 on 1/10.

[paul253]

I'm sorry if this has been addressed already but I don't have time to read thru 15 pages of material. In TH's article in the JS which was posted about 4 hours ago he still mentions "player to be named later" instead of Jeffress. Do we know it is Jeffress for sure? Maybe they are just waiting on a drug test to announce him?

[Funketown]

Melvin said Yuniesky Betancourt, who came with Greinke in the trade, will be the starting shortstop and likes his offense and says his defense is underrated.

 

"I think he's an exciting player who is still young," said Melvin. "He led their club in RBI. I think he will do OK in the field."

 

Please be lip service.

It has to be. Melvin is not that stupid. Dayton Moore is hardly that stupid.

[Invader3K]

paul, it was announced it's indeed Jeffress in the trade. Sounds like there was a bit of a delay while the Royals checked into some health issue of his (not drug related).

[sbrylski]

I'm sorry if this has been addressed already but I don't have time to read thru 15 pages of material. In TH's article in the JS which was posted about 4 hours ago he still mentions "player to be named later" instead of Jeffress. Do we know it is Jeffress for sure? Maybe they are just waiting on a drug test to announce him?

We have confirmation from his agent that Jeffress is indeed the PTBNL, and your speculation is correct that they were looking into the drug/medical history on him.

[TooLiveBrew]

"I feel like I've acquired a CC Sabathia except for two years and maybe longer. It feels good. It was a costly trade. We gave up a lot of good, young players. This is a credit to our scouting and player development people to have the kind of young players it takes to make a trade like this."

 

Melvin said he had made a couple of runs at Greinke this winter without being able to make a deal. Then, when he heard a prospective trade with Washington fell through because Greinke used his no-trade clause, Melvin said, "I decided to try this one more time."

 

This should make some Melvin critics happy. One knock that's been repeated against him is that he doesn't do enough to initiate deals. While this is obviously only one deal, not only did Melvin initiate contact, he wouldn't take "no" for an answer, and pounced when he saw his opportunity. This was some hardcore GMing by Melvin, imho.

 

 

Milwaukee also was on Greinke's no-trade list but he recently switched agents to the CAA group and the Brewers have a good relati[o]nship with them, including outfielders Ryan Braun and Corey Hart. Greinke agreed to drop the no-trade and the deal was done.

 

"It's the player's decision," said Melvin. "It's an indication he wanted to come to Milwaukee and thinks we have a chance to compete and win the division."

 

This, combined with the "two years, maybe longer" quip from earlier in the article, makes me very optimistic on a Greinke extension. I'll try not to get my hopes up too much, though.

[kramnoj]

That negates around 20% of the value Zack Greinke adds. That's just his defense. Betancourt is bad.

 

Betancourt's offense has been around replacement level for the past few years. He probably projects to be around replacement level in 2011. So he's not good, and he will likely be overpaid, but he is a better option than what the Brewers had available to them.

 

And if I look at Betancourt, I can find reasons to be optimistic about him. His worst years have been when he is on bad teams and when he has a guaranteed contract. He has a financial incentive to return to the player that was closer to being major league average, and his job is going to be more fun to come to now that he will be on a better team. I have no expectations of him being good, but if he can be more like a -5 fielder and the 700 OPS player he was with the Mariners, he could be a useful player.

Edit:

Moving the post over to the Betancourt thread.

[ilovebeer]

Tom H just talked with Braun and he couldn't happier. Braun says we are going for it.

[clancyphile]

Prince has to feel the Brewers are serious about winning.

 

I think that's a good point. The problem of his agent still remains..... I don't think anyone would argue that Prince wouldn't be happy to stay here if the Brewers end up with a competitive offer. The problem is that the Brewers can't afford what Boras will want.

Boras works for Prince, not the other way around.

Has Prince made any comments on the trade?

[berniebrewer4life]

Prince has to feel the Brewers are serious about winning.

 

I think that's a good point. The problem of his agent still remains..... I don't think anyone would argue that Prince wouldn't be happy to stay here if the Brewers end up with a competitive offer. The problem is that the Brewers can't afford what Boras will want.

 

 

I love prince, but is rather spend the money extending marcum and grienke.