Haudricourt: Greinke trade was huge deal involving many other teams

Arizona’s Zack Greinke, who pitched against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday afternoon at Miller Park, was a central figure in one of the biggest trades in Milwaukee history.

In terms of the players involved, it was a trade that kept giving. And giving. And giving.

It wasn’t just the Brewers and Kansas City Royals who benefitted from that blockbuster trade on Dec. 19, 2010. Some of the players in that deal later morphed into eight other trades involving 33 additional players and nine more clubs.

Even an octopus would be jealous of the number of tentacles that grew from that initial swap.

The Brewers acquired Greinke, the 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner, and infielder Yuniesky Betancourt from the Royals for shortstop Alcides Escobar, centerfielder Lorenzo Cain and right-handers Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi, considered one of the top pitching prospects in Milwaukee’s system. The deal immediately sent the message to Brewers fans that the team was going for it in 2011.

Let’s look first at the initial impact on the Brewers and Royals, who at the time were in win-now and rebuilding modes, respectively (roles that would flip a few years later). Greinke proved to be the ace the Brewers coveted, going 16-6 with a 3.83 in 28 starts in 2011, including a perfect 11-0 at Miller Park, sparking the team to a franchise-record 96 victories and its lone National League Central crown.

Had Greinke led the Brewers to victory in Game 5 of the NLCS in St. Louis instead of absorbing a 7-1 defeat, who knows what might have happened that fall? As it was, the Brewers returned home and another off-season trade acquisition, Shaun Marcum, was pummeled in a 12-6 rout in Game 6 that nixed Milwaukee’s hopes of a World Series berth.

Craig Counsell, now manager of the Brewers, played on that 2011 team and remembered the excitement of having a pitching staff led by Greinke and Yovani Gallardo (17-10, 3.52).

“You come to spring training and we knew we were a good team,” Counsell recalled. “We knew we stacked up with the other teams. The strength of that team was its starting pitching. That’s what made it a good team. It was a complete team, but the starting pitching was a big deal.

“It was certainly a big statement (to acquire Greinke). We knew we were going to have a couple of years with a good chance to play in a World Series.”

The Royals had to wait a bit longer to maximize their return but enjoyed an even bigger payoff. Escobar and Cain would play key roles on the Kansas City teams that went to consecutive World Series in 2014-’15, winning the latter. Run prevention was a huge part of the Royals’ success, and Escobar and Cain were leaders of that stellar defensive unit.

Before getting to those World Series, the Royals included Odorizzi with top prospect Wil Myers and lefty Mike Montgomery in a trade with Tampa Bay for starting pitcher James Shields and reliever Wade Davis. Shields was an important part of the rotation in 2014 and Davis a major bullpen piece for both World Series clubs.

When the Brewers took a step back competitively in 2012 and it became evident they couldn’t afford to keep Greinke from free agency, they did the smart thing and put him on the trade market. On July 27, they sent him to the Los Angeles Angels for three minor-league prospects – pitchers Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Peña, and shortstop Jean Segura. The pitchers didn’t pan out (Hellweg had Tommy John surgery) but Segura would provide both present and future value.

Myers became part of an even bigger trade after the 2014 season when Tampa Bay combined with Washington and San Diego on an 11-player swap. He was the key player acquired by the Padres and remains the anchor of another rebuild there. A player to be named later for the Nationals turned out to be shortstop Trea Turner, a first-round draft pick with huge upside.

The Brewers got an all-star first season from Segura at shortstop and two lesser campaigns before he joined the long list of players traded away during the rebuild. Segura and minor-league pitcher Tyler Wagner were dealt on Jan. 30, 2016, to Arizona for right-hander Chase Anderson, veteran infielder Aaron Hill and infield prospect Isan Diaz.

Anderson is in the Brewers’ starting rotation, Diaz was the organization’s minor-league player of the year in ’16 and Hill was flipped at midseason to Boston for two minor leaguers, infielder Wendell Rijo and right-hander Aaron Wilkerson.

Segura wasn’t done being traded. After leading the NL with 203 hits last season with Arizona, he was moved to Seattle in a deal with former Brewers outfield prospect Mitch Haniger (traded on July 31, 2014, in the Gerardo Parra deal) for right-hander Taijuan Walker and infielder Ketel Marte.

Jeffress, included in the Greinke deal that started tipping over these dominoes, eventually found his way back to the Brewers after Kansas City sold him to Toronto and the Blue Jays released him in April 2014. The Brewers traded him again on Aug. 1 of last season with catcher Jonathan Lucroy to Texas for three highly-regarded prospects – outfielders Lewis Brinson and Ryan Cordell, and right-hander Luis Ortiz.

Greinke, of course, remained on the move after being traded by the Brewers. After pitching two months for the Angels, he signed a six-year, $147 million free-agent deal with the Dodgers. Greinke opted out of that contract after three years to sign a six-year, $206.5 million deal with the Diamondbacks.

So, Greinke got richer and richer. The Brewers got close to the World Series in 2011 before the growing tree of trades sprouted from the first one. And you have to wonder if we are all done.