Zack Greinke

With Zack Greinke only two seasons away from free agency, it was obvious that the Royals would have to deal their ace pitcher. The 27-year old righty would inevitably command a massive salary that Kansas City could not afford to match and hoped to acquire a package of elite prospects rather than risk losing Greinke for nothing.

Following this weekend's trade of Greinke to Milwaukee for four of the organization's top ten prospects, many questions were answered but even more were raised.

After much speculation, the Kansas City Royals finally traded their star pitcher Zack Greinke on Sunday morning, sending shock waves through the rest of the baseball world.

He was traded along with Kansas City's starting shortstop from last season, Yuniesky Betancourt, in exchange for four players. Many have begun to wonder who ended up getting the better end of the deal in this one, but it is just way too early to tell at this point.

Well it seems things are changing in Brewer-land. The powers that be have, once and for all, determined that starting pitching may just be the way to win games and possibly even championships. Apparently, it took the San Francisco Giants winning big to hammer that point home.

So now that Zack Greinke is a Brewer, what makes it a good fit? You see it all the time where free-agents or traded players struggle in their new surroundings.

Move over Cliff Lee, because this move will make more of an impact than Lee going back to Philadelphia. Zack Greinke was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday morning and this shifts the entire outlook of the National League.

The Brewers finished third in the National League Central last year, 14 games back of the Cincinnati Reds. Milwaukee was not light in hitting, but struggled mightily on the mound. They finished 12th in runs scored, but were 26th in ERA.

Zack Greinke, Milwaukee Brewers and Sunday's Latest MLB News.

Zack Greinke became the newest member of the Milwaukee Brewers today when he was traded from Kansas City.

This move is sure to lead to more moves this offseason by teams that are trying to get better. The Yankees and Rangers were both mentioned as possible landing places for Greinke after both franchises whiffed on Cliff Lee.

The Milwaukee Brewers pulled the trigger on a big-time trade Sunday, and no it wasn't the much talked-about Prince Fielder move, as they acquired disgruntled Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke.

That begs the question, where does Greinke fall in amongst the best of the National League? Between the St. Louis Cardinals duo of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, the Philadelphia Phillies "Big Four" and the San Francisco Giants duo of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, among others, the NL is not short on great starting pitching.

Last year, the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers missed the playoffs entirely.  The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees made the playoffs, but sat the World Series out while the San Francisco Giants met up with the Texas Rangers for baseball’s biggest series.

At the end of the 2010 season, ranking the top teams based on their finish would have looked something like this:

Zack Greinke was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers around 9:30 Sunday morning.  Does this announcement make him an automatic favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award?  After all, he did win the award in the American League in 2009.  Here are 10 pitchers who will compete with Greinke for the award in 2011.  

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Once it was announced that Cliff Lee was signing with the Philadelphia Phillies, Zack Greinke began to receive the most attention among pitchers, with various teams attempting to acquire the 2009 Cy Young winner.

Zack Greinke is finally on the move. The Kansas City Royals ace was traded today to the Milwaukee Brewers for a collection of top prospects, including shortstop Alcides Escobar, center fielder Lorenzo Cain and pitchers Jeffrey Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi. The Brewers will also receive shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and $2 million in cash.