When Brewers’ starter Zack Greinke fractured a rib playing pickup basketball earlier this month, April 16th was the date given as his possible return. But as Milwaukee skipper Ron Roenicke tells John Schlegel of MLB.com, that timeframe seems unrealistic.

“If he’s ready at that point, I’m going to be really happy,” Roenicke said. “I just don’t know if he’s going to be ready then. I think we’re not really planning on that early.”

Greinke has been exercising but he has yet to play catch. I would assume that it’s still a possibility that he’ll come back sometime in April, but he’s definitely going to miss a few outings at the start of the season.

Fans have a tendency to panic when it comes to Opening Day injuries, but it’s a long season. I’m sure the Milwaukee faithful is anxious to see the Brewers’ new toy but there’s no sense rushing him back. There’s a lot of optimism surrounding this club right now and Greinke will play a key role in their success. But nobody has ever won a pennant in April so allowing him to fully recovery is best for all parities involved.

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Royals have traded starter Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt to the Brewers in exchange for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi and a player to be named later.

Commissioner Bud Selig must approve the trade since the Royals are also sending $2 million to the Brewers to offset the buyout they’d have to pay for Betancourt’s 2012 option, but it looks like it’s a done deal.

None of the prospects in the deal outside of maybe Odorizzi are blue-chippers, so it appears as though Kansas City accepted quantity over quality. They wanted to move Greinke for a couple of middle infielders, which is why the Yankees and Rangers weren’t fits. As accustomed with all trades involving multiple pieces, it’ll be a while before we see which side won this deal.

Of course, it’s a win for Greinke. The Brewers weren’t competitive last year but they weren’t competitive in large part because of their faulty pitching. If the 2009 Cy Young winner can rebound from a rough 2010, he’ll give Milwaukee a nice 1-2 punch along with Yovani Gallardo. Milwaukee is also a perfect low-key place for Greinke, who has dealt with anxiety problems in the past and was reluctant to go to a big city like New York.

Maybe a deal like this could catapult the Brew Crew back into contention next season.

Yankee fans that were hoping Royals’ ace Zack Greinke would be the club’s fallback plan if the Bombers couldn’t sign free agent Cliff Lee are going to be disappointed with latest reports.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, even if the Yankees miss out on Lee they won’t attempt to trade for Greinke. Come to your own conclusions as to why, but here’s mine: Despite their usual spending habits, the Yankees are trying to restock their farm system and trading prospects to acquire a risk like Greinke would be counterproductive. The Bombers are also well aware that Greinke has a history of anxiety problems so bringing him to the Big Apple isn’t a prudent move.

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark hears that the Yankees wouldn’t have been a good trade partner for the Royals anyway. Kansas City has a couple of top-tier prospects such as catcher Wil Myers, first baseman Eric Hosmer and third baseman Mike Moustakas. What they want to do now is acquire a young shortstop, second baseman and centerfielder to add to that core and the Yankees can’t meet those needs.

Per Stark’s report, neither can the Rangers. So it appears as though the two teams that would make the most sense for Greinke aren’t fits for the Royals. That leaves the Blue Jays, Nationals and Brewers as three teams that may be able to land the young right-hander assuming he stays on the trade market.

The Royals have let it be known that Zack Greinke is available this winter and the first club that has come knocking on their door (that we know of) is the Blue Jays.

According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Jays have inquired about the availability of Greinke, who struggled last year after winning the 2009 AL Cy Young Award.

With Cliff Lee the top free agent on the market, Greinke would appeal to also-rans in the Lee sweepstakes such as the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels.

The Royals are looking for two “can’t-miss prospects” as a starting point in talks on the 2009 American League Cy Young award winner.

Greinke’s contract includes a limited no-trade clause through the 2011 season and he has a “no-trade list” that includes big market teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. It’s not known if Toronto is on that list.

The Jays have to do something if they want to compete with the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox in the ultra-competitive AL East. Greinke is coming off a down year but obviously he has the talent. With more help around him, one would think that he would blossom into a consistent performer so we’ll have to see if Toronto can put something together.

It must feel like an eternity to Zack Greinke since he won the 2009 American League Cy Yong Award. That’s probably because the poor bastard pitches for the Royals.

Greinke recently expressed his frustrations to the Kansas City Star about the Royals slow rebuilding plan. While KC has a strong farm system in place, Greinke wonders how long it’ll take before the Royals’ young prospects will be able to help the club win.

“Every system has something,” he said. “The biggest problem is I have two more years on my contract. Are those guys supposed to make it up by the beginning of next year?”

“Very rarely do guys come straight into the big leagues and make an impact, especially hitters,” he said.

“It’s probably more of a grind than any year since 2005,” he said. “This one has been like that one for most of the season.”

“It’s not real exciting to have to go through it again,” he said. “It’s been six years with me, and most people (who are Royals fans) have been through a lot more than I have. But for me, it’s the third complete re-start/rebuilding phase.”

Players aren’t stupid – they know when their front office is trying to win and when they’re just trying to turn a profit. Baseball is a business and organizations are run as such, but players like Greinke deserve better. It’s obviously the Royals haven’t been trying to win over the past decade or so.

And as Greinke alluded to in his comments, fans have had it worse than he has. It’s been eight years since KC has had a winning record and 26 years since they’ve made it to the playoffs. Talk about giving your fan base nothing to cheer about.

While he was probably just blowing off steam, Greinke’s comments make you wonder whether or not he’ll be the face of the Royals for much longer. His contract is up in 2013 and while that’s still a long ways off, his future in Kansas City will likely be a topic of discussion over the next couple of years.

Jon Heyman of SI.com hands out his 2009 midseason awards as baseball’s All-State Game approaches.

AL MVP
1. Joe Mauer, Twins. Looks like it’ll be three times for an AL catcher winning a batting title, with the previous two winners also being Mauer. Superb pick by former GM Terry Ryan and those great Twins scouts taking Mauer over the higher-priced Mark Prior. Terrific defender. On a level by himself.

NL MVP
1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals. No contest here. His numbers (33, 82, .336) are crazy, even for him. The absolute best.

AL Cy Young
1. Zack Greinke, Royals. He doesn’t have that sub-Gibby ERA anymore (now there’s an breakable record), but he has generally been the best pitcher in the league. How else to win 10 games with that offense?

NL Cy Young
1. Tim Lincecum, Giants. What happened to that slow start? He’s 9-2 with a 2.23 ERA and 141 strikeouts. The Giants have to get off their duff and try to lock this guy up.

AL Rookie of the Year

1. Ricky Romero, Blue Jays. Toronto was ripped for taking the left-hander a spot ahead of Troy Tulowitzki, but he’s 6-3 with 2.85 ERA.

NL Rookie of the Year
1. Colby Rasmus, Cardinals. After a poor spring he’s showing the talent that everyone saw in him last spring (10, 32, .282).

You can check out the rest of Heyman’s awards here.

Heyman’s awards are littered with young players, which is great for the game of baseball as it tries to shed its steroid image. Players like Mauer, Greinke and Lincecum (just to name a few) are helping turn around baseball and make the game fun to watch again. It seems like more teams are playing small ball these days and it’s making for tighter games and more exciting finishes.

Baseball seems fun again.

It’s always funny how the voting for the Major League Baseball All-Star game shakes out, and it’s generally more of a popularity contest than anything. That, or the more familiar names like Derek Jeter, David Wright and Manny Ramirez always generate lots of attention. Well, since we’re about 75 games in, and the mid-summer classic is two and a half weeks away, I decided to look at the current vote leaders and make my own picks of who I think should be in there. First the American League — and next week, the National. Here we go….

First base
Leader: Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
Mike’s pick: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins. It’s kind of hard to argue with Teixeira’s numbers, short porch in right or not. He’s got 20 homers, 57 RBI, 20 doubles, and a .280 average (and in the field, zero errors). You can make a case for Carlos Pena (22 homers), but he’s batting .236. Morneau is batting .315, and has 16 homers (let’s say he’d have 20 if he played in Yankee Stadium), and more RBI than Teixeira (58). And he’s only made one error.

Second base
Leader: Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
Mike’s pick: Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays. I love a good comeback story, and this is it. Hill doesn’t have as many homers as Kinsler (17 to Kinsler’s 18), but he is hitting for a higher average (.306 to .268) with more RBI (52 to 49). Sure, Kinsler has 16 steals to 2 for Hill, but I’m sticking with my comeback story.

Shortstop
Leader: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
Mike’s pick: Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays. Jeter’s having a good season, but Bartlett is leading the American League in batting with a sick .363 average. Even after spending some time on the DL, Bartlett still has 7 homers, 35 RBI, 13 doubles, 3 triples and 15 steals…..pretty awesome numbers for a shortstop.

Third base
Leader: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
Mike’s pick: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays. With a nod to Chone Figgins and his .325 average with 23 stolen bases, Longoria has delivered at a power position with 16 home runs, 62 RBI, 24 doubles and a .312 batting average.

Catcher:
Leader: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
Mike’s pick: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins. Hey, these voters aren’t doing a bad job after all! This is an easy one, though. Mauer is batting almost .400 (.396) with 14 homers and 43 RBI, and a staggering .695 slugging percentage that leads the American League.

Outfield
Leaders: Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox
Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
Mike’s picks: Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox—It’s hard to argue with 19 homers, 69 driven in (leads the AL) and a respectable .278 average, especially when Big Papi has struggled. Manny who?
Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels—He’s currently fourth in the voting, but he should be higher. 17 dingers, 56 RBI, and he’s batting .309 with 12 stolen bases.
Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays—The Rays are running on everyone, and this guy leads them and the world with 38 stolen bases. He’s also batting .314 with 6 homers and 35 RBI.

Starting pitcher
As you all know, pitchers are chosen by the managers and announced shortly before the all-star break.
Mike’s pick: Zach Greinke, Kansas City Royals. The guy got off to a blistering start, when the Royals stunned everyone by spending more than a few days in first place. He’s cooled off, but Greinke is still 9-3 on a team that’s 31-41, he has a stellar 1.90 ERA, and he’s second in the AL with 111 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 109 innings.

Relief pitcher
Mike’s pick: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox. Okay, so he’s not leading the league in saves (he has 17 and the Angels’ Brian Fuentes has 20). But Papelbon sports a 1.97 ERA and 33 K’s in 32 innings. And he just has that sick “you can’t hit me” demeanor.

Source: Baseball Reference

There’s a different feel to baseball again – a good feeling.

Yeah, I know – there are probably still plenty of players who are cheating. But at least the league is (finally) making somewhat of an effort to clean up its image and for that, we as fans have hope that maybe someday the game will be juice-free again.

Those who have watched their fair share of baseball this season should be reveling in how the game is getting younger again. Instead of teams waiting for dingers in order to score runs, clubs are bunting, stealing and manufacturing scoring opportunities – the way the game is supposed to be played.

After watching how the Rays won last season, more and more teams are building their rosters by developing home grown talent rather than signing big-name free agents (save for the Yankees, of course) and it’s making the game exciting again. An onus has been made on youth and speed and for the first time in quite a while, baseball is once again a young man’s game.

That said, I’ve decided to have a little fun by constructing an entire 25-man baseball roster (I’ve named the team “Team Youthful Exuberance”) by using only players who are 25 years of age and younger. Rules and guidelines for the roster are below so enjoy and as always, feel free to make an argument for any players that I might have missed.

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We’re approaching Memorial Day and are already about a quarter of the way through the baseball regular season. Some players historically take a while to get going, and some start off blazing hot and then cool off. Here we take a look at five pleasant surprises, and five busts through the first 40 or so games of the 2009 season.

Top 5 Suprises

1. Zack Greinke, SP, Kansas City Royals—One of the reasons the Royals are off to a great start is that Greinke has found his rhythm, to the tune of 7-1 with a 0.82 ERA, as well as 73 strikeouts and 12 walks in just 66 innings. Greinke has given up a microscopic six earned runs so far. Six! It’s not like the kid wasn’t talented, but his career record before 2009 was 34-45 and his ERA 3.96.

2. Jason Bartlett, SS, Tampa Bay Rays—Before this season, Bartlett was a career .285 hitter with 16 career home runs. So far this season, he’s off to a wicked start–.376 batting average, 6 homers, 23 RBI, 9 doubles, 12 stolen bases and an OPS of 1.004.

3. Raul Ibanez, OF, Philadelphia Phillies—This is looking like the free agent signing of the off-season. Or maybe coming over to the world champs from soggy Seattle was a good move. Ibanez was a respectable .288 hitter and was averaging 22 homers and 95 RBI, but so far in 2009 he’s hit 15 home runs and driven in 40 runs, while hitting .349 with 10 doubles, 4 stolen bases and a .724 slugging percentage. You think the Mets should have made a run at the guy instead of wasting all that money on P Ollie Perez?

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For those of you scoring at home, Royals’ starter Zack Greinke is on pace to win 30 games this season after picking up his second shutout and third complete game in a 3-0 win over the White Sox on Monday.

Thirty!

Zack Greinke was spectacular once again, pitching his second shutout and third complete game win overall en route to becoming the majors’ first six-game winner in the Royals’ 3-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Greinke (6-0) gave up only six hits, did not allow a walk and struck out 10, needing just 104 pitches to continue his incredible start to the season. The 25-year-old became the third Royals pitcher to record wins in each of his first six decisions of a season, joining Jose Lima (2003) and 1985 World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen (1987).

In 45 innings this season, Greinke has allowed only two earned runs — three overall — on 30 hits and eight walks, with 54 strikeouts. His earned run average now stands at an astonishing 0.40.

Granted, Greinke was facing a lineup on Monday that featured three minor leaguers, but that certainly doesn’t take away what he has done to this point. He has been absolutely lights out and it’s nice to see a Royals player getting some pub for once considering that normally KC has already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs by this point in the season.

Hopefully Greinke continues to pitch well throughout the season and maybe the Royals (who are in first place by the way) can make a run of things in a winnable AL Central Division.