Just last week, the Milwaukee Brewers said they wanted to sign ace starting pitcher Zack Greinke to a long-term contract extension.
Now this week, it looks like it's just gamesmanship on the part of the Brewers, as FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi reports that there are no contract talks even close for Greinke.
It doesn't appear there has been much dialogue between the Brewers and representatives for Greinke since spring training. As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no evidence that the team had made the 28-year-old a formal offer. And there isn't much time left before the deadline for the sides to strike a deal.
Let's face it: the Brewers simply don't have the resources to keep Greinke. By saying they plan on keeping Greinke, they can attempt to drive up trade value by "forcing" teams to up the ante to "pry" him away from Milwaukee's hands, but that's simply not the case. All a team has to do is offer better than what a comp pick may look like for the Brewers, and that should be enough to get a trade done.
We'll see what team ends up with Greinke for the last two months of the season. The Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals have all been linked to Greinke this summer.