Kansas City Royals: Top 15 Pitchers In Losses All-Time

Kansas City Royals All-Time Loss Leaders – Number 9: Zack Greinke (67 Losses)

The Royals owe a lot to their former first-round pick. After all, without Zack Greinke the Royals wouldn’t have two ALCS MVP players on their team and may not have the best closer in the game in the form of Wade Davis.

When the Royals traded away Greinke following the 2010 season, they received a pretty sizable return. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but this trade proved to be a tipping point for the Royals and their recent success likely wouldn’t have been possible without it.

Greinke had expressed a desire to play for a team that was contending, or perhaps it was a lack of desire to play for a team in a rebuilding phase. He wanted to play for a winning team and in turn the Royals would receive Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffres, and Jake Odorizzi.

While Cain and Escobar have turned out to be huge assets to the Royals, Odorizzi had a hand in bringing in another huge asset. He was part of the deal that brought Wade Davis to Kansas City.

Five years later, the Royals are back to back pennant winners and owners of a shiny new World Series trophy. Zack Grienke is still looking for his first foray into the fall classic.

Greinke’s best year came in 2009 for the Royals as he finished the year 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA. He also won the Cy Young award that year thought it didn’t help the Royals’ overall record very much. Considering his ERA jumped to over 4 that following season, the Royals got a pretty good haul.

Zack Greinke now has the largest annual value in a contract in MLB history, but he still doesn’t have a World Series ring.

Next: An Original Royal