Royals trade Greinke to Brewers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - The Kansas City Royals have traded former Cy Young winner Award winner Zack Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers in a six-player trade, the teams said on Sunday.
In exchange for their prized right-hander, the Royals will receive shortstop Alcides Escobar, center fielder Lorenzo Cain and top pitching prospects Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress.
Kansas City also sent shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and cash to the Brewers, who finished in third place in the NL Central Division last season with a 77-85 record.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This trade is a credit to our scouting and player development staff as their hard work and judgment provided us the talented prospects that Kansas City will be receiving," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said in a statement.
"I also appreciate the support of ownership in making this deal."
Greinke won the 2009 Cy Young Award as the American League's top pitcher when he went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA. Last year, however, he slipped to 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Over his seven-year big-league career, all with the lowly Royals, the 27-year-old Greinke has a 60-67 record with a 3.82 ERA.
The Royals were 67-95 last season and have not made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1985.
(Writing by Steve Ginsburg in Washington, Editing by Ed Osmond)