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.
