Olney’s Latest: Greinke, Cabrera, Astros

In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider req'd), Buster Olney says that the first day of Spring Training acts as an artificial deadline for the Royals to trade Zack Greinke. At that point he will show up to the clubhouse and dominate the team's storyline. Olney likens it to the Johan Santana situation from a few years ago, when the Twins felt pressure to move him before pitchers and catchers reported. He adds that Greinke's performance would then be under intense scrutiny, even during Spring Training, and if he pitches poorly his trade value will plummet.

Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…

• The Rangers made what was considered an aggressive offer for Greinke at the winter meetings only to learn that they fell way short of Kansas City's demands.
• The Nationals were informed that in order to land Greinke, they would have to part with Jordan Zimmermann, Drew Storen, and Danny Espinosa. Rival executives expect the asking price to come down in the weeks ahead.
• Orlando Cabrera is open to returning to the Twins. Minnesota just finalized a contract with Tsuyoshi Nishioka, but right now Alexi Casilla is penciled in as their everyday shortstop.
• The Astros were very much in on Orlando Hudson before he chose San Diego and they signed Bill Hall.