RC Breaking News: Zack Greinke returns to Arizona!
According to a high-ranking Royals official who spoke this evening with RC, Royals pitcher Zack Greinke reported to Arizona tonight to begin working his way back onto the Major League club. Greinke, who had been sent home to Florida by the Royals to work out what were eventually identified as "emotional issues," had been away from the team since February 25, and only recently felt ready to return.
RC is overjoyed to be the first to welcome Greinke back into the fold, and we wish him well as he begins his journey towards Kansas City!
posted by Kevin @ 11:45 PM
26 comments
26 Comments:
Hurry back, Zack. I'll take your 5.80 ERA from last year considering Joe Mays is getting sent out there every 5th day.
Wow, if this is really true, you seem to be the first site that I know of to break the news. Kudos to you!
well, we were shelled again tonight... I can only hope that this news will bouy me..
do you think its possible we will win three in a rwo anytime in the next month?
Dave, Your draft tracker won't take comments, so I'll post mine here.
Morrow? Are you kidding me? He has diabetes, and probably the one team who wouldn't risk a 1st round pick, let alone the top overall pick, on a guy with Diabetes is the Royals.
Dan Reichert frustrated them so much specifically because of his diabetes, that I find the notion that they'd pick Morrow #1 overall to be as unlikely as can be.
Since it is starting to look increasingly likely that the Royals will again hold the #1 pick in 2007, and since there doesn't seem to be an elite, standout, obvious #1 type player in the 2006 class, are there any early indications who might be available in 2007?
Ummm... That was reported during the news last evening at 10:00 p.m. You were not the first to report it and I seriously doubt you got that info from a high-ranking official with the Royals.
I know for a fact that they would not disclose that information to someone who just runs a website
I'm putting Lincecum down as my pick for #1...the dude could be in the pen now if they had him...
Him or Miller....has to be
Although Hernandez may eat Lincecum if they draft him :)
Kevin prefers not to publicly reveal the name of the person he spoke with last night, and I respect that. But I can assure everyone that the source did in fact tell him that Greinke reported to Arizona yesterday, amongst other things that Kevin would prefer not to report at this time.
If you don't want to believe us, that's your business. But you'd be surprised what baseball folks will tell fans who recognize them and say hello. For instance, Allard Baird in 2003 told me that the Royals were talking to Jose Lima's agent about bringing him to KC, and that was a full day before they signed him. That would have been a hell of a scoop, if only RC existed at the time.
As for Morrow, the Reichert comparisons are a little silly because not only does Morrow weigh more than 145 lbs., he's also not a raging alcoholic.
And I know the Royals have shown a lot of interest in him. I can't tell you how, but I have credible information about that.
The point about the "scoop" is that it was already reported on the news, well before Kevin posted anything about it. Its not a scoop and it makes you look silly to call it that.
And even if there is a person you talk to with the Royals, it just seems very dubious that its a "high ranking official". If you're getting your information from a clubhouse assistant or something like that, then just say so. They'll know these things too. But it stretches the bounds of reality when you assert you're somehow plugged into the executive suite at Royals HQ.
As for the 2007 draft, I think Baseball America's 2005 Amateur Player of the Year Robert Stock is probably at the top of the class right now. He was their youngest player of the year ever (15), and he sounds like a complete freak:
"There's a lot that goes into being one of the best youth baseball players in the country, and Robert Stock has the market cornered on practically every criterion.
The 6-foot, 180-pound 15-year-old was tossing 90 mph fastballs by the time he was 14 and has been known to connect on 400-foot home runs, using a wood bat. He also has the intangibles, the moxie, the mental edge, as well. Just ask his teammates, who have seen Stock's competitiveness on the field and off it."
There are some good collegiate pitchers available, such as Vanderbilt's David Price and NC State's Andrew Brackman, and several two-way players like Joe Savery, Sean Doolittle (who I really liked when I saw him, but not enough for a first overall selection), and Matt Wieters (who will play as a position player).
I think there's a lot more top notch talent available next year. Hopefully the Royals won't hold that pick.
Of course, NOT ONCE did anyone associated with RC refer to that story as a "scoop", even though we clearly "scooped" the KC Star, which has absolutely nothing about this on their sports pages today.
If you saw the story on the news, then good for you. We certainly weren't aware of it (neither Kevin or I even live in KC). And I can assure you that the source was not a "clubhouse assistant".
As for being plugged into Royals HQ, we never make that claim either. This is a blog, and we often have fun with it by making it appear that we're taking ourselves VERY seriously (thus the third person narrative and the "Official" labels everywhere). You say we're "stretching the bounds of reality," and my answer to you would be "SO?".
Of course, at the same time, it's hard to deny that we do break more news than any other Royals site around, and it's not even close. I don't know why you're so bitter. If you don't like what we do, then don't read it.
Dave,
Just ignore knuckleheads like this dude giving you a hard time. 99% of normal Royals fans love your site and the info you give. While I think you tend to error a little on the homer side in your analysis of the Royals, I still love the coverage and commentary your site gives.
The KC Star and KCRoyals.com still don't have any info about this, and that's over 12 hours after your post. As far as I'm concerned, your site had the scoop. I live far away from KC as well, so this site is one of the main sites I come to for Royals info.
Thanks Dave, Kevin, and others.
Ravich had it on baseball tonight last sunday.
as usual, anonymous doesn't have the gall to leave his name. dave, this is some great news.
AJB
There's not much reason to pin your hopes on Greinke at this point. Even without his emotional meltdown this spring, he was still a question mark coming into 2006 given his atrocious 2005. I don't have any reason to believe that Greinke will ever be great, but I'd be happy with good.
I'm afraid Bautista is going to be a medical disaster, because like MacDougal his mechanics are simply terrible. His stuff is fantastic, but it doesn't matter if you can't stay on the field.
I heard Buster Olney say it on Cold Pizza yesterday, but I agree that people don't need to be cynical about stuff
Really, his performance in 2005 really means nothing to what he could do this year. I know this may be a stretch, but Greinke's sophmore years mirrors the sophmore year of Greg Maddox. It's really kinda scary how close they match.
You're site is one of the best Royals ones on the net (especially for us out of towners). Keep up the good work...and you're right...I also check the K.C. Star website and there's nothing about Greinke in it.
The only secret I want to know is how you afford all the RC travels to various games. Is Allard really your secret backer, so you say nice things about him? Just kidding...great site.
Tim
Thanks for the words of support, everybody. While I was expecting the comments board to light up on this one, I certainly wasn't anticipating anything quite like this.
On a side note, I'd like to give major kudos to all the Royals fans in the Springfield area who've come out to this Wichita series rockin' the blue. That's awfully impressive in Cardinals Country.
I really enjoy all your articles so keep up the good work. I know at times it is hard to be a Royals fan with their dismal play, but I get tired of all the negarivity on the various Royal boards. Your site is a breath of fresh air. Don't let all the naysayers get to you.
Dave
"As for Morrow, the Reichert comparisons are a little silly because not only does Morrow weigh more than 145 lbs., he's also not a raging alcoholic."
It's not the least bit "silly". The guy has a disease that is incurable, can become debilitating when you are a ballplayer, and besides that, it's simply a sizeable risk.
Raging alcoholic? Never once heard this, read this, or saw any evidence of it (like a DUI -- because most raging alkis get one or three).
Everyone knows that the primary reason why Dan Reichert could not consistently keep on weight was because he had Type 1 diabetes.
I'd be absolutely shocked if the Royals used the #1 overall pick and spent $4 MM on a guy with that big of a known risk. I doubt Reichert would have been picked where he was if people knew he'd eventually get the disease.
If the Royals take him, I'll come back and eat hat. If they don't -- since you know, he's apparently the hottest thing at the end of April and everyone else has major question marks -- you can do likewise if they don't.
No way the #1 overall pick.
Quick question...why does Buddy Bell suddenly hate Esteban German?
6 ab? c'mon, I thought we dealt for this guy because he was a top of the lineup threat. Let him get some starts. I'm not saying an everyday job, but 2 or 3 starts a week would be nice to see what he can do
Just another notch against Bell..The dude is not KC's answer.
I encourage everyone to check out Royalmania.com as well as the guy who runs that site has setup a forum and a chat room for discussions. I don't know him personally, but he's pretty funny with his commentary and provides some good off the wall Royals stories.
Please, it was well known that Reichert was a party animal and the club asked him numerous times to cut back on his lifestyle because he was threatening his health and his career. I guess he thought it was more important to live it up at night than become a ballplayer.
Certainly there's a risk with taking a player with diabetes, but if he is a disciplined person who takes his health certainly, its not necessarily something that should exclude a player.
I can second the Reichert as a raging alcoholic comment. My boss used to party with him, and couldn't keep up. Reichert's blood sugar had to be out of control with the exteme highs and lows, and it had to affect him on the mound. That said, I would be concerned about Morrow as well. Diabetes is he!! on stamina.
Keep up the great work, guys.
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