The Milwaukee Brewers had an ace in 2010, now they have another one. In order to pull this off they sent SS Alcides Escobar, OF Lorenzo Cain and RHPs Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress to Kansas City and got Zack Greinke and SS Yuniesky Betancourt in return. The Royals will also pay $2 million towards the remaining $27 million of Greinke’s contract that will run through 2012.

Together with Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf and probably Chris Narvesen over Manny Parra, Zack Greinke is going to be part of a rotation that has to be considered one of the best in the NL.

The AL Cy Young winner in 2009 came back down to earth last season when he had a 10-14 record with a 4.17 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with the Kansas City Royals. He struck out 181 batters in 220 innings.

Zack Greinke spent his entire career playing for the Royals. In 7 seasons he started 169 games and has a 60-67 record. He has a lifetime 3.82 ERA and 1.26 WHIP.

Milwaukee not only have a talented offense next season, they also have a very respectable rotation now. Whether it will be enough to win the NL Central, or reach the wildcard spot for that matter, remains to be seen but the Brewers should still have everything to play for in September.  

Fantasy Perspective

I think of Zack Greinke as a talented pitcher but winning the Cy Young award in 2009 was an exception. He is very good but not top tier material. The numbers he put up last season, though disappointing, reflect his capabilities much better than those he produced during his Cy Young season, when he had a 16-8 record with a 2.16 ERA and 1.07 WHIP and struck out 242 batters in 229.1 innings. The move to the NL will help him to establish himself literally as an ace again. His usually good control of his pitches should come in useful.

It is the right thing to do to make him the #1 starter. Nearing the prime of his career he could accomplish an ERA in the area of 3.55 and a WHIP in the low 1.20s. I also believe his K/9 will be better than last season’s 7.404.

You may not draft Zack Greinke as your first pitcher in 2011 but you won’t regret drafting him at all.