Zack Greinke is on the trading block. Well, sort of. The Kansas City Royals are willing to listen to offers. That much we already knew. But now we know that Greinke has a no-trade clause in his contract, which expires in 2012, that allows him to block deals to half of the league.
Fox Sports reported that the 2009 Cy Young Award winner's contract allowed him to block trades to 20 teams during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In the last year, the no-trade clause would have allowed the Royals to ship him to "mostly small-market teams, including the Tampa Bay Rays." Greinke could have blocked trades to the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and other "big-market teams," but why would he have passed up winning?
In 2011, Greinke can block trades to just 15 teams.
Kansas City Star columnist Sam Mellinger looks at the ideal Greinke trade -- a blueprint laid out by the Cleveland Indians and more recently executed by the Texas Rangers, who are a win away from playing in the World Series.
Hard to argue with that. But Royals fans will probably be reluctant to let go at first. If the Rangers are the model, as Mellinger argues, then they should be ready to deal.The Royals will need a package that begins with a big-league ready stud prospect, and at least another piece or two that the fan base can believe in. In other words, they need to get back more than Neifi Perez or the Mark Teahen All-Stars.
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