With the Adrian Gonzalez deal leading the pack as the biggest transaction this offseason via the trade, the Milwaukee Brewers made a trade just as big, but in the pitching department. Hoping to solidify a lethal starting rotation to keep up with the rest of the good pitching staffs in the NL Central, most notably Cincinnati's when Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez are healthy and St. Louis' which features rookie standout Jaime Garcia and an All-Star cast of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, the Brewers have made a handful of acquisitions resulting in an offseason that's been been nothing short of active. Headlining their busy campaign in hopes of contending for a division title in 2011, the Brewers made a splash by dealing for Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke.
Greinke, the recipient of the 2009 AL Cy Young Award, was on many teams' radar this offseason, and was even targeted by such teams as the Yankees and Angles after both failed to land Cliff Lee. Instead, KC played it smart sending their talented hurler to the Midwest. By doing so, not only did they manage to trade him to a small market team like their own, but they also traded him out of the American League, and still received the talented prospects they were hoping for in exchange. With hitting being their strong point for many years now, the Brewers have never really had a dominant pitching staff to compliment their talented hitters which include the likes of Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Cory Hart. However, Milwaukee plans to put an end to that in 2011.
The Brewers who've been seeking a legitimate ace since Ben Sheets, are hoping Greinke is the answer. Since the mid-season trade in which C.C. Sabathia was dealt from Cleveland to Milwaukee in '08 and single-handedly carried the Brew Crew to the Postseason behind a remarkable 11-2 record and an outstanding ERA of 1.65, the ball club's pitching woes have only increased. Sure the Brewers have had a decent arm in Yovani Gallardo who made a trip to the All-Star Game in 2010, but they've been yet to find that piece of the pitching puzzle to help get them over the hump. Joining Greinke to help address this issue, will be Shaun Marcum who was acquired two weeks before Greinke. At age 29, Marcum (13-8) shined bright in a powerhouse AL East division as Toronto's front man last year when former Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was packaged to Philly.
The trio of Greinke, Marcum, and Gallardo all seen Opening Day starts last season for their respective teams, giving Milwaukee some stability to go along with Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson who quietly won 25 games last season between the two. The makeover to their starting rotation might not put them in Phillies or Giants territory just yet, but it should be enough to put them in a situation for a similar pennant race that saw the Reds dethrone the Cardinals as division champs this past season.
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