Zack Greinke Leaves CAA, (Not) Signaling Intention to Request Trade

UPDATE: Jerry Crasnick clarifies via email that his tweets were not meant to suggest Greinke might force his way off the team, but merely that his impending dip into free agency following next season makes his current status as agent-less somewhat newsworthy -- but nothing more. Specifically, "...he's not doing this to push for a trade out of Milwaukee or anything close to that."

So we can put this speculation (which was always entirely on my part anyway) to bed, at least for now. Thanks to Jerry for reaching out.

Zack Greinke has left his representative CAA according to Jerry Crasnick and confirmed by the MLBPA, potentially signaling an intention to request a trade out of the reeling Milwaukee Brewers:

• Twitter / @jcrasnick: Zack Greinke, who'll be a ...
  Zack Greinke, who'll be a top free agent next winter, has left CAA and does not have an agent. Confirmed with MLBPA. #brewers

• Twitter / @jcrasnick: Greinke is a different cat ...
  Greinke is a different cat, so you never know what he'll do. But if he decides to go agent-shopping, there'll be a feeding frenzy.

Anyone remember the last time he left an agency? Almost exactly one year ago he changed agents and immediately demanded a move out of Kansas City. Here's what we were saying in 2010 (days before KC traded Greinke to the Brewers):

• Zack Greinke Agent Switch Means What For The Kansas City Royals? (2010) - SB Nation Kansas City
  "Players don't change agents and hope for the status quo. This was done for a specific reason -- was it money? Was it to get traded? We're still figuring that out but something is going to change and, if the Greinke trade rumors mean anything, something could be changing soon."
  

• Greinke wants out of Kansas City (2010)- MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN
  "After Greinke switched representation from SFX Baseball to CAA, a high-ranking executive from another team told FOXSports.com, "He really wants out of K.C." Separate major-league sources confirmed that Greinke has unequivocally asked the Royals to be traded."

Sorry BrewerFan, it's entirely possible Zack is doing this for spiritual reasons and/or something purely personal, but it's not likely. Agency switches often signal an intention to do something, and it's not usually "let me work for free while your team collapses, right?"

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