Royals pitcher Zack Grienke is the only bright spot on this struggling Royals team. Not many predicted this team playing as poor as they have been, but when you take a closer look at this lineup, you can see why. Their big hitter right now is Alex Gordon, but he is nothing more than a five or six hitter on a team like the Red Sox or Cubs. He doesn't have legitimate protection behind him, nor does he have anyone in front of him getting on base. Pitching has been inconsistent, besides Grienke, and the bullpen has been shaky as well.If the Royals were to trade Grienke for three or four young position players, they would be in much better shape. I talked with one free lance scout who said the Cubs are a good fit because they have a lot of depth and could lose a player like Ronny Cedeno with little damage to the team. Ronny Cedeno is on the cusp of being an everyday starter, but is being blocked by a Theriot and DeRosa. He did mention though that the Cubs would be more attractive to a short term replacement, perhaps Livan Hernandez, than someone like Grienke.
Grienke would be a great fit for the Braves, mostly because he would match up nicely behind Tim Hudson in the two spot.