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

[trwi7]

List of amazing Greinke quotes when he was with the Royals.

 

"I could hit me if someone were on base. It wouldn't be easy, but I could do it. If no one were on base, I wouldn't care as much, so I could get me out."

Upon hearing then-GM Allard Baird was going to watch him throw: "And you're gonna be impressed,"

"I was giving Brian Bannister all the credit for being the best-hitting pitcher on the team, until today. Now, I've got my confidence back. They're throwing me sliders, and it doesn't matter."

"For the first month of the season, (Billy Butler) has definitely been an above-average first baseman. That's hard for me to say because I never thought anyone would say that but him and his family."

Two years ago, with Alex Gordon struggling, Greinke pulled him into the video room to show him a clip of Greinke hitting his home run. "In case you forgot," Greinke said, "this is what a home run looks like."

"Nice effort by the defense. They didn't get tired of running after balls to the wall. I was pretty impressed by that."

To Jeremy Affeldt after Affeldt gave up a homer on what he thought was a good pitch. "Really, I went back to the clubhouse and looked at the pitch on video. It was a really bad pitch. Right over the middle of the plate, and you got it up. I mean it was a bad pitch."

Affeldt: "Thanks, Zack."

Zack: "Right down the middle. I could have hit it out."

Affeldt: "Thanks, Zack."

Zack: "Yeah."

On making the Sports Illustrated cover: "There's a lot more interesting stuff going on right now. They should have something else on the cover. Playoff basketball or something else. So it's a mistake. They'll probably sell their least amount of magazines in a long time -- except when NASCAR was on the cover."

On hoping President Obama would cuss him out at the All-Star game: "Because none of the White Sox guys like me. So I was hoping that he'd recognize me and be like, 'You punk, I hate you.' But he didn't do that."


“I cried in bed, moaning ‘why, why did this have to happen?’” — when asked how he reacted to the news of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston breaking up.

“No. She’s way more big time than me. She’s pretty old too.” — when asked if he thought Jennifer Aniston would date him after the break-up.

“I’d say the average person wouldn’t eat a Chipotle burrito and still do his running.. full speed.. like me. That’s why they call me special”

“I don’t know if we really want to talk about this anymore…it’s kind of stupid” — after talking about golf for about 5 straight minutes in an interview.

“It gives me more time to think or not think, which is a problem.” — when asked what he thought about having an extra day off.

Restaurant customer:”Hey, you’re Zack Greinke, right?”
Greinke: looks at him for a second, points at a short, fat Hispanic man next to him, and says, “No. That’s Zack Greinke.”

“You don’t faze me, Gobble.” - From one of his mic’d up segment on RSTN, when he’s shagging fly balls in the outfield and Gobble runs past right as he’s about to catch one.

“I was looking at colleges for me to go to, schools in vacation places like Hawaii, just to get away from everyone I knew, so I could start over. I also thought about mowing lawns for a living because I like to be outdoors. ” — after breaking out of the depression funk he said sometimes he thought about quitting baseball and mowing lawns..

"I’m not going pro" — when asked by a reporter why he had given up the game of golf, even though Greinke was, by most accounts, the best golfer on the Royals at Spring Training in 2008

“If I lived in Kansas City, I probably wouldn’t go to a lot of games, but I’d definitely go to that one.” — on a pitching matchup where Greinke was facing Daisuke Matsuzaka the second or third game of the year.

Reporter: “Hey Zack, would you mind doing an interview before or after your start tomorrow night?”
Zack: “After is better. Uh, what time does the game start?”
Reporter: “I think it starts at 7:10.”
Zack: (With a sly grin across his face) “OK, thanks, now I know.”

“Soria, you runnin’ today? You’re goin’ down then. I’m gonna run so much faster than you, you’re going to be eating my dust.” — talking to Joakim Soria during pre-game warmups.

“I really want to rob a homer today. Really bad. It’s all up to the hitters.”

“No. Anyone can sign one player.” — when asked if signing Gil Meche to a $55 million deal showed him that the Royals were willing to go out and get free agents to make this team better.

“Well, Davies thinks he’s good at everything but he’s not really good at anything. He thinks he’s good at golf. He thinks he’s good at ping-pong. He thinks he’s good at basketball. He thinks he’s good at tennis. And probably everything else he thinks he’s good at. He thinks he’s good at cards. But he really is very average at all of them.” — when asked if he knew any surprising facts about his teammates

“Yesterday I saw a good one. I was going to eat, and the person I was with wasn’t there yet, so I thought, okay, I’ll just watch the sun go down, and it was nice.” — when asked if he had seen any good sunsets in Arizona during Spring Training.

“No. She, like, has a special mouth . . . so that her breath is usually pretty good, but she complains about mine a lot.” — when asked if his girlfriend liked to eat at Chipotle with him.

“It’s got to help some other guys, seeing someone as old as he is and playing as long as he has, playing as hard as he is.” — on second baseman Mark Grudzielanek

“Well, one thing is, when you’re warming up in the bullpen, they’ll spray you sometimes and get you wet.” — when asked what he thought about the fountains at Kauffman Stadium

“There definitely will be flying cars, but whether there’ll be flying cars for most people to use, it’ll probably take a long time to straighten everything out, all the rules and hassles. It’ll take a while to figure out how to keep people from crashing into each other.” — when asked if he thought there would be flying cars in the future.

“No, I’m not a fan of them. We could try to think of someone else we could do it with. But not them.” — when asked if he and his girlfriend would double date with Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson.

“If I hit a guy, I want him to be hurt.”

“Things can go either really bad in two innings or go really good in two innings. You really don’t get the whole story.” — on spring training pitching outings.

“I just wanted to make this clear: I can’t live without baseball…It’s to the point where it caused problems with my girlfriend because she knows baseball is more important than her. I say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry. I love the game that much. You’re not even close to being No. 1 — that’s how much I love baseball. I couldn’t live without it.”

Everybody was mad at me for only throwing fastballs and change-ups. So I threw some first-pitch strikes with curveballs. It?s an easy way to get a strike. It?s not like it?s a real hard pitch to throw. You just throw it for a strike.”

“Seriously, that was the best pitch I’ve ever made that got hit over the fence. That was probably the only pitch today that I did exactly what I wanted to do.” — after giving up a home run to Prince Fielder in a spring training game.

“Me. I’m a better hitter.” — when Greinke was asked by a National League scout, “Should we draft you or Scott Kazmir?”

Here's a whole thread with Greinke quotes going back to May 2008.

[wibadgers23]

"For the first month of the season, (Billy Butler) has definitely been an above-average first baseman. That's hard for me to say because I never thought anyone would say that but him and his family."

That has to be my favorite.

[tigerbrew]

“I’d say the average person wouldn’t eat a Chipotle burrito and still do his running.. full speed.. like me. That’s why they call me special”

“I just wanted to make this clear: I can’t live without baseball…It’s to the point where it caused problems with my girlfriend because she knows baseball is more important than her. I say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry. I love the game that much. You’re not even close to being No. 1 — that’s how much I love baseball. I couldn’t live without it.”

Haha... those two quotes made me LOL

 

[BrewCrewForever]

After seeing video of the presser from yesterday, I did not know how laid back, funny and how big of a dry sense of humor Zack had. I loved it. He seems very quirky, much like Sheets was. I have a feeling Zack is going to be a great quote for the next 2 seasons.

[igor67]

Can't wait for Ueck to interview him.

[BrewCrewForever]

Can't wait for Ueck to interview him.

Oh man, that could be pure gold. Haha.

[Invader3K]

Buster Olney with an interesting article up this morning at ESPN (Insider for the full version). Basically says Ned Yost was instrumental in getting the Royals to trade for Cain and Escobar.

[LouisEly]

Ned just did more for the Brewers than he ever did as a manager.

[Funketown]

Ned just did more for the Brewers than he ever did as a manager.

Why the blue font?

 

It's too bad Ned didn't ask them for some grittiness and some gamers. Inglett/Durrington/MacGruder for Greinke+!

[Invader3K]

Brewers TV broadcaster Brian Anderson with a write-up that really makes me giddy (props to Adam McCalvy for referencing them):

 

The Brewers can win the World Series.

 

I know, I know, it's December and a lot has to go right during the course of a long season to even make the playoffs. But, there is no question, the 2011 Milwaukee Brewers have the "bones" of an actual finish-line-championship team.

 

Zack Greinke is a game changer. He immediately goes to the top of Milwaukee's rotation giving all subsequent slots an advantage on every other rotation match-up outside the Phillies. The offensive weapons are in place and will arrive to the ballpark each day burden-free, knowing they don't need to score six runs to have a chance to win. In Greinke, Yovani Gallardo, and Shaun Marcum, you have three pitchers who were all Opening Day starters and aces of their respective staff's last season.

 

The current starting rotation of Greinke (10-14, 4.17 ERA), Gallardo (14-7, 3.84), Marcum (13-8, 3.64), Randy Wolf (13-12, 4.17), and Chris Narveson (12-9, 4.99) is perhaps...take a breath...on paper...THE BEST ROTATION EVER ASSEMBLED IN 41 YEARS OF BREWERS BASEBALL.

[TooLiveBrew]

"For the first month of the season, (Billy Butler) has definitely been an above-average first baseman. That's hard for me to say because I never thought anyone would say that but him and his family."

That has to be my favorite.

Mine too. This guy's going to be an awesome Brewer.

[kilgore37]

This is by far the best starting day rotation in Brewers history

[bigredrobbo]

He hates NASCAR - now I KNOW I'm gonna like him!

[Funketown]

He hates NASCAR - now I KNOW I'm gonna like him!

This will help in resigning him. No way he'll even consider Texas or Houston, and Atlanta is probably off the list as well!

 

*BLUE* I've been getting called out on my laziness with the blue here.

[davemakovec]

Following that link, there's a hilarious exchange between Greinke and Gobble? in the outfield shagging fly balls. Greinke is talking about taking his Wii out of the clubhouse, and Ross Gload is pissed. Then, out of nowhere, he pulls off his glove, grabs the ball with his left hand, hucks it, and says, "Bam!"

 

Greinke: How fast do you think that was?

Gobble: 89

Greinke: Yeah right. You've never seen a ball that fast in your life.

[ilovebeer]

I heard today that Rickie Weeks are Zack are neighbors.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I heard today that Rickie Weeks are Zack are neighbors.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/112198079.html

In this interview he just says they both live in Orlando and see each other a few times an offseason. Doubt they are neighbors.

[Invader3K]

Buster Olney in his latest column ranks the top 10 rotations in MLB. He put the Brewers 6th overall, behind the Phillies, Giants, A's, Rays, and Red Sox. Seems like a reasonable projection to me. FWIW, the only other NL Central team he ranked was St. Louis. He puts the Cardinals as "8b", tied with Atlanta.

[monty57]

I heard today that Rickie Weeks are Zack are neighbors.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/112198079.html

In this interview he just says they both live in Orlando and see each other a few times an offseason. Doubt they are neighbors.

I read a Greinke quote where he said they lived about five minutes from each other. He also mentioned he occasionally sees Prince, who also lives in Orldano.

 

 

[strawbossisevil]

Buster Olney in his latest column ranks the top 10 rotations in MLB. He put the Brewers 6th overall, behind the Phillies, Giants, A's, Rays, and Red Sox. Seems like a reasonable projection to me. FWIW, the only other NL Central team he ranked was St. Louis. He puts the Cardinals as "8b", tied with Atlanta.

I'm surprised by the Red Sox. Clay Bucholtz, despite the gaudy ERA numbers last season put up an xFIP of 4.20 (FIP 3.61). He benefited from a low BABIP, a high strand rate, a homerun rate three times lower than his career average, and all that while only striking out 6.22 per 9, while walking 3.47 per 9.

Jon Lester is legit. FIP 3.13, xFIP 3.29. His numbers are all where they should be.

Outside of those two, however, the Red Sox rotation is full of guys who pitched with ERAs in the mid 4s (or worse). I don't think that the Red Sox rotation is better than the Brewers at this point.

The other team I think we are better than is the As (especially if you take them out of the Coliseum) :

Trevor Cahill (ERA in 2010 - 2.97) had a FIP of 4.19, xFIP 4.11 last season. Most projections have him as a guy with an ERA in the high 3s this upcoming season. He only K'd 5.82/9 last season.

Gio Gonzalez (ERA in 2010 - 3.23) had a FIP of 3.78, xFIP 4.18 last season. Most projections also have him as a guy with an ERA in the high 3s this upcoming season. He walked over 4 batters per 9 last season, but benefited greatly by cutting his HR/9 in half.

Dallas Braden (ERA in 2010 - 3.50) had a FIP of 3.80, xFIP 4.41. He also doesn't strike out many batters (5.28/9)

Vin Mazzaro (ERA in 2010 - 4.27) had a FIP of 5.13, xFIP 4.72.

Ben Sheets (ERA in 2010 - 4.53) had a FIP of 4.71, xFIP 4.44.

If you look at the numbers from last season, I think we are actually pretty close to the Rays (although I would take Price over Greinke). I would have the Brewers as 5th overall, with the As and Red Sox behind us, and the Cardinals in front of us.

[reillymcshane]

Jim Breen from Bernie's Crew did a podcast on Baseball Prospectus talking about breaking the Greinke trade. It's pretty cool as he talks about what happened.

 

Kevin Goldstein and another guy also talk about the ramifications of the deal.

 

http://www.baseballprospe...icle.php?articleid=12626

[Invader3K]

strawboss, I agree especially that he may have ranked the Red Sox too high. I think maybe a bit of the good ol' "Bristol bias" may be in play there.

 

The A's seem hard to project and I think you're right that they may be too high as well. I admit I'm not even sure who their 5th starter will be since Sheets won't be back.

[Brewer Fever]

strawboss, you forgot the A's best pitcher..Brett Anderson

[Warning Track Power]

Kevin Goldstein and another guy also talk about the ramifications of the deal.

 

http://www.baseballprospe...icle.php?articleid=12626

 

The realities of our system are awfully depressing if we can't resign our current big leaguers or if injuries strike. Also, I disagree about us having a 1 or 2 year window. To me this implies we are going to fall off the map after 2012 and back into a 90 loss team. I don't see that happening even in the worst case scenario. Not with Attanasio as the owner.

[Flood Pants]

The realities of our system are awfully depressing if we can't resign our current big leaguers or if injuries strike. Also, I disagree about us having a 1 or 2 year window. To me this implies we are going to fall off the map after 2012 and back into a 90 loss team. I don't see that happening even in the worst case scenario. Not with Attanasio as the owner.

I don't think we're doomed to be that bad after a couple of years. I think what people mean is that, for the next two years the Brewers may have the best concentration of talent that they ever have. The team may never have this much pure talent again. That's two years to be a potential 90-win team and the two years in which this team will most likely ever win a world series. After that, some rebuilding will have to happen. I don't think we'd suddenly go back to being as bad as the Brewers of the early 2000's, but it's likely we're looking at a few years of 80 or so losses.