KC Royals: Zack Greinke Trade Paved the Way to Success

The KC Royals made a huge move when they traded ace pitcher Zack Greinke six years ago. That trade proved to be the turning point for this organization and ultimately won the team a World Series.

On December 19th, 2010, the inevitable finally happened: Zack Greinke was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for a slew of young prospects.

Before getting into the rest of that trade, it should be noted that Greinke wasn’t happy in Kansas City. Greinke, a Cy Young Award winner in 2009, didn’t want to be apart of a rebuilding team and wanted to pitch for a contender.

Once the 2010 season wrapped up, Dayton Moore finally gave Greinke his wish and sent him off to Milwaukee.

Royals fans owe it to Zack Greinke though. Without him, none of us would be Forever Royal.

In return, the Kansas City Royals received Jeremy Jeffress, Jake Odorizzi, and some guys named Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar. The latter two each won an ALCS MVP in 2014 and 2015 and both have World Series rings while Greinke has still yet to have pitched in a World Series game.

Were it not for this trade, the Royals wouldn’t have gotten Cain and Escobar. They were both HUGE factors in this team winning it all in 2015.

Also – Without this trade, the Royals wouldn’t have gotten James Shields and Wade Davis from Tampa Bay. They sent Odorizzi down to Tampa for those two guys and both ended up making a major impact with the Royals during the time in town.

Shields taught this team how to win. He was the fearless leader in the 2013 and 2014 seasons and while his postseason pitching wasn’t great, the Royals wouldn’t have made it to that point without his leadership and experience.

Davis was another interesting piece, as he was a failed starter and then moved to the bullpen. The reliever role is where Davis excelled, as he had an ERA under 1.00 in 2015 and became one of the best closers in all of Major League Baseball.

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While Shields wasn’t on the eventual championship team in 2015, he got the Royals to that point. Shields was technically apart of the Greinke trade as well because of Odorizzi being traded for him.

John Viril of Kings of Kauffman wrote an excellent post on everything revolving the Zack Greinke trade. In that article, Viril discusses all of the moves Moore had made in trying to make this team a contender with Greinke at the helm. Go read the article. It’s excellent.

Anyway – The point I’m trying to make here is that while it stunk having to watch yet another guy beg to be traded away, Greinke honestly did the KC Royals a favor. Since he’s been out of Kansas City, the Royals have had four non-losing seasons, made it to two World Series, and won a World Series title in 2015.

Since the trade, has appeared in four total NLCS games (two with Milwaukee and two with Los Angeles), but has still yet to pitch in a World Series game.

Next: 20 Best Royals During the Dark Years

I enjoy irony in life, so the fact that Greinke begged to be traded to a contender and has still yet to make it to that ultimate mark makes me smile. Nothing against the guy, but had he stayed put in KC, the Royals would probably still be Forever Losers and the Forever Royal thing never would have come about.

All in all though, it worked out for both sides. The Kansas City Royals have another World Series trophy in the showcase and Greinke went on to sign the richest contract in all of Major League Baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks last offseason.

Yeah, I think both sides are doing just fine.

Royals fans owe it to Zack Greinke though. Without him, none of us would be Forever Royal.

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