Jake Odorizzi, the Brewers' first-round supplemental pick in the 2008 draft, is putting up scary good numbers with a 95-mph fastball at Class AAA Omaha.
The Kansas City Royals could bring him up now, but why rush a 22-year-old right-hander who could be a rotation centerpiece for years to come?
Outfielder Lorenzo Cain is on the disabled list with the Royals. Jeremy Jeffress is on the Omaha roster with Odorizzi.
The Royals' Alcides Escobar is, along with Baltimore's J.J. Hardy, one of the American League's better shortstops.
Today's theme could be why the Brewers, who once had Escobar and Hardy, have found themselves in such a pickle at shortstop. But as a discerning Brewers fan, you know where this is headed.
Dec. 19, 2010, was a fairly important day in Wisconsin sports history. Green Bay played at New England that Sunday night; it would be the last game the Packers would lose that season on the way to a Super Bowl championship.
That same morning, the Brewers traded Odorizzi, Cain, Jeffress and Escobar to the Royals for Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt, another former Brewers shortstop (coincidently back with the Royals) who looks somewhat better in retrospect. But that is another story for another day.
This is all about Greinke, one of the game's leading pitchers who threw eight innings without a decision Sunday against the Twins.
Two questions:
Considering all that the Brewers gave up for Greinke, and especially how Odorizzi has developed and Escobar is still everything you knew he would be, was the trade worthwhile?
Of course it was. Greinke helped the Brewers win a division championship, their first in the National League and only their second in franchise history. In pro sports, the object is to win now and deal with the consequences later, particularly when you are the Brewers.
But now that the bill is coming due on Greinke, the other question is whether the Brewers should trade him before he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.
Even if the whole National League Central wears clown shoes and theoretically there is enough time for this Maryvale version of the Brewers to do something, it is almost impossible to envision Greinke still being here by the end of the trading deadline.
There was a time when I thought the Brewers had a chance to re-sign Greinke, just the kind of guy to give up a few million after-tax dollars for the sake of his personal comfort. His social-anxiety disorder and the low-pressure, small-town vibe of Milwaukee seemed like an ideal match at something close to market price.
Then, three events changed everything.
Just before the regular season began, San Francisco right-hander Matt Cain signed a $127 million extension, setting the bar far beyond the means of the revenue-limited Brewers.
If CC Sabathia and Prince Fielder were laughably out of range, Greinke is going to be more than a couple of yucks out of reach in a game without a salary cap.
Next, all those injuries took the Brewers out of contention. Only a team with a legitimate chance could keep Greinke at the risk of losing him without compensation.
Finally, the Revenge of Ned pretty much assured that the Brewers would be among the many sellers at the trading deadline. Lose three to the Royals and you basically forfeit any pretension of seriousness.
Trading Greinke would be the white flag that no fan of a 3-million-drawing, $100 million payroll team would want to see hoisted, but the discerning among them would see the opportunity in moving an unaffordable player for prospects.
To make the playoffs twice in four years, the Brewers had to literally mortgage the farm. Their minor-league system, once one of baseball's best, was cleaned out for Greinke and, among others, Shaun Marcum, who isn't coming back. Brett Lawrie, the other '08 first-round pick with Odorizzi, has the potential to be a star with the Blue Jays.
Baseball moves in cycles, and now would be the time for the Brewers to begin restocking their future. A team that believes it is one pitcher away from the World Series would give up a lot for Greinke.
General manager Doug Melvin has always said he likes the challenges associated with small-market personnel moves. Maybe his biggest challenge yet would be finding another Odorizzi and Lawrie and more for Greinke as the Brewers evolve through their next cycle.
Look at it this way. Since shocking the game by trading for Sabathia in '08, the Brewers have set baseball on its ear by becoming buyers in a big-boy-pants market. It was an unnatural state that had an expiration date, which is pretty much now. The sooner the Brewers replenish their farm system, the sooner they can get back into the game.
Almost two years ago, the Brewers did the right thing by going for it when they could. As unpalatable as trading Greinke would seem, getting a similar return on what they gave up for him would help move the Brewers in that direction.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brew...-need-to-trade-greinke-3t5q7k6-159372875.html
