MLB Rumors: Milwaukee Brewers Must Sign Zack Greinke to Extension

The Milwaukee Brewers lost Prince Fielder to free agency this offseason, and the possibility exists that they will lose Zack Greinke to free agency after the 2012 season is over.

Greinke, who went 16-6 with a 3.83 ERA in his first season in Milwaukee, is due to become a free agent at the end of the season. He and the Brewers have had contract discussions, but Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported on Tuesday that the Brewers and Greinke had mutually agreed to table extension talks for the time being.

This doesn't mean that Greinke and the Brewers won't reopen talks at some point this season, but given the things that could happen in the coming months, it's hardly ideal.

The difficulty with signing Greinke to an extension is his price tag. He's on the books for $13.5 million this season, and it stands to reason that he's only going to sign an extension if it means he'll be getting a raise. 

The situation is complicated by Matt Cain's recent extension. The San Francisco Giants gave him a six-year extension worth $127.5 million, numbers that no doubt caught Greinke's ear when he heard them. If Cain is worth that much, so is he.

And that, obviously, is an issue for a club like the Brewers, which only has so much money to spare.

So it's no real surprise that Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com is already speculating that Greinke could be trade bait at the deadline if the Brewers are out of contention. They need to restock their farm system, and trading Greinke would be a good way for them to do that.

The alternative, obviously, is to sign Greinke to an extension sooner rather than later. If they do that, the Brewers will have secured one of the top right-handed starters in baseball, and they'll be able to avoid any fuss at the trade deadline.

Will signing Greinke to an extension be expensive? You bet. The Brewers would have had to pay Greinke a lot of money before the Cain extension. Now that that deal has taken place, signing Greinke will cost even more money.

However, the Brewers should know as well as anyone that Greinke is well worth the money. He's a former Cy Young winner, and his first season in the National League was largely a success. He got off to a tough start, but Greinke finished the year by going 9-3 in the second half with a 2.59 ERA.

This season, there was all sorts of buzz among the so-called experts about Greinke being a favorite to win the NL Cy Young award. Greinke made good on the hype in his first start, pitching seven shutout innings against a very good St. Louis Cardinals team.

Given his track record, and given what the Brewers have seen so far, they have every reason to believe Greinke is an ace worth investing in.

Every would-be contender needs two things: an ace and at least one star position player. The Brewers locked up their star position player when they inked Ryan Braun to an extension last year. Now is their chance to ink Greinke to an extension, thus securing a chance to remain relevant in the NL Central for years to come.

Yovani Gallardo doesn't hit free agency until 2015, so signing Greinke to an extension would mean having two co-aces for at least a couple more seasons. Together, they'll give the Brewers a chance to contend as long as they're together.

It all boils down to this: The Brewers have lost Fielder and their farm system is not as strong as it once was, but it's not like this team's window to contend is rapidly closing. It will cost a lot of money to make sure the window stays open, but it's worth it for the Brewers to take that risk.

If the Brewers trade or lose Greinke to free agency, their window of opportunity will close.