Royals trade former Cy Young winner Greinke to Milwaukee

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

The Milwaukee Brewers are going all in for 2011, acquiring former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke in a trade Sunday with the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals acquired shortstop Alcides Escobar, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and right-handed pitching prospects Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress from the Brewers in exchange for Greinke, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and cash considerations.

“Zack Greinke is one of the top young pitchers in the game today,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said in a statement. “We are very excited to add him to our new rotation.

Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart said the move, along with a previous trade for starter Shaun Marcum, makes the Brewers a solid contender.

“We were getting better with Marcum, now Greinke,” Hart said in a text message to The Associated Press. “Brewers are for real!”

Royals general manager Dayton Moore said the deal made sense for Kansas City because the young players they acquired from Milwaukee fit into what is expected to be a wave of promising young players coming up through their system. Third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer could join the big league club this year.

“We expect to be competitive next year,” Moore said. “We’re still working to improve our baseball team.”

Moore indicated it took some direct talks between he and Greinke before the pitcher agreed to waive the no-trade clause in his contract.

Greinke was 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA for the Royals last season. It was a step back from his standout 2009 season, when he went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and won the Cy Young award.

There are two years left on the four-year, $38 million contract he signed with the Royals in January 2009. He is due $13.5 million each of the final two seasons, although the Brewers got an undisclosed amount of cash back from the Royals as part of the deal.

Greinke is 60-67 with a 3.82 ERA in six-plus seasons with the Royals. He sat out most of the 2006 season because of an anxiety disorder and considered quitting baseball.