Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Zack Greinke to NY? Don't Believe the Hype, Yet

According to a report yesterday by Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan, Royals ace Zack Greinke may be interested in joining the Yanks rotation. A source close to Greinke said this:

“I wouldn’t put it past him to go to New York. I don’t think he’d rule out anybody. He says he likes New York. Especially because they’re winners. He wants to go to a team that wins."

The article goes on to say that there have been continual talks between the Yanks and Royals, although Greinke's contract has a no-trade clause which has been understood to mean that he is in no way interested in a large-market team which the Yankees are. It's assumed that his "shyness" of large market teams is the result of his battle with anxiety disorder and depression.

I am not going to put much value into this story, yet. Due to the Jeter negotiations, I've become somewhat desensitized to "out of nowhere" accounts based on "sources".

And Greinke's bout with anxiety disorder and depression are serious issues that can't get lost in his pitching ability. We fanatics are all too aware of big time pitchers who crumbled on the big stage in NY, i.e. Randy, Johnson and Kevin Brown, neither of whom suffered from mental instability although you could make a case for the latter. Until some formal statement is made by either side, I will view this as nothing more than a "teaser" account to keep the Yankees hot stove at a boil.

However, there are some interesting things to keep in mind on this. A trade for Greinke would mean the Yankees having to give up key players. The Royals are reportedly in need of a catcher as their vet Jason Kendall, is recovering from shoulder surgery. This would surely put Jesus Montero on the trade block. Another player that could be thrown into the mix is Brett Gardner. His youth, speed and <$1 million dollar salary would be ideal for the Royals who are looking to revamp their squad and reduce payroll from $74 million. This would certainly open the doors for the Yankees to swoop in and snag Carl Crawford if he were still available.Also, if the Yankees do get Greinke and Lee and Andy Pettitte returns, AJ Burnett will see action from the bullpen for at least one year.

Stay tuned...

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

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