Time to trade Pie?

If he fails to hit next spring, his value will start to plummet and it wouldn't be a bad idea to use him as trade bait this winter.

I liked Pie as a defensive replacement in later innings but if we can get something good back and he can get better playing time somewhere else I say why not?

Pie is going to be a very good player, I believe that. His numbers in the minors suggest as much and he hasnt been given enough of a chance to prove himself at this level. He's a very valuable chip and definitely far and away our top prospect.

I love him.

With that said, Greinke is a special talent as well. As I have mentioned before in another thread discussing Greinke, he's dealt with anxiety issues. This doesn't make him a "headcase" which is a pretty insensitive term for someone who has a real problem and is dealing with it. I have friends in the Royals organization who have told me they think he's a totally different person than the one they saw in 2006, and he's completely changed and has things under control.

Not only is he a special talent, but he's also a young pitcher that put up very good numbers pitching in the AL Central, a much tougher division than our NL Central.

His numbers: K/9 = 7.82, BB/9 = 2.66, HR/9 = 0.88, GB Rate 32% (not so good).

for comparison's sake lets look at Ted Lilly's numbers in the AL East (a similarly tough division).

Lilly: K/9 = 7.93, BB/9 = 4.01, HR/9 = 1.39, GB Rate = 38%

Now the majority of Greinke's #'s are out of the pen which is easier to compile than as a starter, but they stack up pretty darn well. Which means right now Greinke could probably be similar to a Rich Hill or a Ted Lilly, at his age with control over him for quite some time, that's a pretty big addition over last year's team.

Add in the fact that it's much tougher to find pitching as opposed to hitting on the FA Market and I think you've got the makings of a very very valuable commodity in Greinke.

Which is where "the rub" comes in. Greinke's actual value in straight baseball terms is probably very similar to Pie's, but his market value (because pitching costs so much more than hitting to acquire) is going to be much more to the point where we'd likely need to throw in another piece.

At that price Pie + a piece, I don't think I'd make the move.

At Pie for Greinke straight up, I think its a move very much worth considering IF KC was interested.

and that's where I don't think we could get KC to bite. They have an average CF in DeJesus right now and their organization as a whole has a hitting heavy bias in their prospects. Which means they need the young pitching and thus I don't think Greinke would be going anywhere.

It's not as crazy an idea as many would lead you to believe (mostly because a lot of us are enamored with Pie and not understanding quite how good Greinke is)

But i'd also agree with the majority in here that its WAY too early to draw conclusions about Pie. And if we are going to draw conclusions about him it makes a lot more sense to look at his thousands of AB's in the minor leagues, specifically the 700+ in AAA, as opposed to the Hundred or so in the majors which came in inconsistent doses.

My concern with CF at this point is the uncertainty.  It would be easy if JJ was a righty so he and Pie could platoon, but obviously that won't work.  So, where does that leave us?

I am not opposed to trading Pie, but we shall see.  In the past Hendry has done a good job of pulling the trigger on trading some prospects right before their stock fell (Choi and Hill), so its possible, but somehow I doubt it with the uncertainty this year.

So, that brings us back to the question, what about winter ball?  With all the breaking stuff (at least that is what "they" say) in the winter leagues this might be an interesting test for him and he should be fresh with so few AB this year.