Zack Greinke trade talk: Kansas City Royals ace can veto trade to 15 teams

Zack Greinke is on the trading block. Well, sort of. The Kansas City Royals are willing to listen to offers. That much we already knew. But now we know that Greinke has a no-trade clause in his contract, which expires in 2012, that allows him to block deals to half of the league.

Fox Sports reported that the 2009 Cy Young Award winner’s contract allowed him to block trades to 20 teams during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In the last year, the no-trade clause would have allowed the Royals to ship him to “mostly small-market teams, including the Tampa Bay Rays.” Greinke could have blocked trades to the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and other “big-market teams,” but why would he have passed up winning?