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THE GREINKE ERA

Posted by on Jul 30, 2012 in Brewers | 0 comments

REVIEWING THE ZACK GREINKE ERA WITH MILWAUKEE

Well that was something. Or was it?

In a wild trade that showed the MILWAUKEE BREWERS were all in for the 2011 season the Brewers traded some of their best prospects for Zack Greinke.  Showing they have given up on 2012 the Brewers traded Zack Greinke for some of the best prospects they could find.

So what the hell happened?

First of all, let’s look at Zack.  He was our #1 from day one (Sorry yo-yo he was better than you.)  Besides CC Sabathia he was one of the most consistent Brewer pitchers the Brewers have had (and sorry Ben Sheets).    The Brewers got about 11 innings from playing in the World Series in 2011, and a lot of that was due to Zack.  I am not sure what legacy he leaves in such a short time span, but that’s a good deal of work.  Plus his wife Emily is hotter than hell, although I never once saw a shot of her in Wisconsin.  Oh well, whatever.  Side note:  If Greinke decides to sign a contract with the Brewers AFTER his sabbatical with the Angels he will be a hometown favorite forever.  If not…well we had  that one year… kind of like Anthony Mason and the Bucks.  Ok, bad example.

So let’s look at the collateral assets that evolved around the trade.

The Brewers lost

Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, Lorenzo Cain and Jake Odorizzi.  All four are still with the Royal system.

You will remember Alcides as one of the finest gloves the Brewers have ever had at short (yes a hell a lot better than J.J. Hardy for you Hardy freaks.)   You will also remember he batted like a blind Craig Counsell circa 2011.  Well, he was young. Very young.  This year his batting average is .310 and a respectable .349 obp.

The 26 year old Lorenzo Cain was the Royals every day center fielder but got hurt early in the season and is playing well since he got back.  It is fair to note the powerful Cain has hit all of 3 home runs for the Royals since the trade.

Jeremy Jeffress is a 5.14 ERA middle reliever for the Royals and Ordozzi still has the ceiling is the limit potential as a starter with the Royals.

What’s the most interesting part of this is the Brewers got basically the same guys back!  NO.   Really.

They recieved Jean Segura, John Hellweg, and Ariel Pena.

Jean Segura has serious upside as a shortstop.  He is fast, has a great glove and actually hits.  They haven’t had that at the shortstop position since good old number 19.  Yeah, he’s a big friggin deal.

Ariel Pena has been compared to K-Rod (the good one not the crappy new one) and John Hellweg is 6’9″ and can throw over 100 mph.  They both could be in the rotation as early as next year.  You read that right.

So, in the end, I think Melvin did a tremendous job, considering the Brewers got back what we gave up (pretty much) and got within a David Freese hot streak from the World Series (ok not exactly true but they got close!).

You have got to love potential.  It’s all upside.  And in baseball, unlike football, you won’t know how the trade works out for many years if really ever.

While sadly below is still the best banner Miller Park can display, I can’t help but think the trades 1. gave us a chance in 2011 (yep now I am part of the team) and 2. gave us hope for the future.  For Brewer fans it’s about all we can handle.

– Roste Beefe