Greinke to the Bullpen

As Tim wrote the other day, with Luke Hudson and Scott Elarton coming back from the DL, something had to give.  Apparently that "something" is Zack Greinke, who is going to be a relief pitcher for the time being.  How odd.

Greinke looked great in his April start against Daisuke Matsuzaka; since then he's been mostly terrible with a couple of strong outings mixed in.  I can't imagine this is anything remotely permanent, but perhaps the Royals are showcasing all of their marginal guys--Hudson, Brian Bannister, Odalis Perez, etc.--to see what they can get in trade.  Heaven knows they have some needs to fill.

By Jeff Sackmann
Brew Crew Ball

Comments

[jmonahan7]

is he tradebait? if he is, could you see him going to the Nationals for the right price?

[firesticks]

The Nationals have nothing the Royals need.

And he probably is not trade bait. Too talented to give up on.

[gatling]

This move worries me a bit. Greinke seems to be a bit of fragile player, mentally not physically, so my concern is pretty simple: Does this hurt his psyche long term? Hopefully Jeff is right and it's just a very short term thing with Dayton Moore showcasing his SP's he's looking to move.

[moebarguy]

If the Royals are "sick" of Greinke, I'd love the Mets to take a chance on him.

[George Purcell]

They want to see if Hudson can demonstrate his success from last year. They need to showcase Perez and Elarton for trades. De La Rosa and Meche are locks.

There's your 5-man rotation. Just a numbers game for Greinke and Bannister.

[nrmax88]

"If the Royals are "sick" of Greinke, I'd love the Mets to take a chance on him."

Yeah, seems like a typical Omar pickup doesnt it? Guy with tremendous upside at a very low value right now. Hes still what, 23?

[ArodSucksAtLife]

A Grienke, Soria, Dotel combo is a little too good for the Royals to have. They trying to have Gil Meche win 20 games, and the rest of the rotation not win any?? On a side note anyone know the record for most players on the DL for one team??

R. Sanders RF May 2 15-day Left hamstring tear
R. Shealy 1B May 1 15-day Strained left hamstring
S. Elarton SP Apr 1 15-day Recovery from right shoulder surgery
L. Núñez RP Apr 1 60-day Hairline fracture, right wrist
L. Hudson RP Apr 1 15-day Inflamed right biceps tendon
J. Bale SP/RP Apr 1 15-day Shoulder & back strain
O. Dotel RP Mar 30 15-day Strained left oblique
A. Sánchez SS Mar 28 60-day Right elbow surgery - out for season
J. Nelson RP Mar 23 60-day Torn right labrum - out 2-3 months