Zack Greinke Makes Milwaukee Brewers Legitimate World Series Contender

One look at the Milwaukee Brewers roster is all it takes to validate this headline.

Although there were rumors running rampant to the contrary, this Milwaukee team is in no way looking to blow it up; instead, they're looking to build for the long-haul.

Coming off the "year of the pitcher" in 2010, the MLB has never seen such a high premium placed on starting pitching. In a market where Oliver Perez makes $12 million, it's easy to see why pitchers are demanding the big bucks.

However, the Brewers simply do not have the financial resources to allocate long-term lucrative contracts to pitchers, and the last time they did so (Jeff Suppan), it blew up in the team's face. So rather than giving into the premium placed on starting pitching, GM Doug Melvin and his crew have done things the right way.

After locking up Yovani Gallardo to a ridiculously inexpensive extension at the beginning of the 2010 season (five years, $30.1 million), the Brewers have been wise as to how they've allocated funds. Despite an overpaid Randy Wolf on the pitching staff, the Milwaukee franchise has one of the more formidable rotations around the league.

Also having acquired emerging starter Shawn Marcum from the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this offseason, the team has decided to acquire talent via trade using prospects brought up through their minor league system while the rest of the league is left trying to buy their way in.

With Gallardo and Marcum at the top of the rotation, the Brewers felt that they still lacked the necessary firepower to compete in the postseason. Enter Zack Greinke.

Selling extremely high on OF Lorenzo Cain (and who could blame them?) and pairing him with the potential of an unproven SS in Alcides Escobar, the Brewers absolutely robbed the Royals blind in the nabbing of Greinke. Furthermore, the two pitching prospects heading to KC in the deal (Jake Odorizzi, Jeremy Jeffress) are in no way capable of turning around the Royals.

Odorizzi is at least three years away from contributing at the major league level, and Jeffress has been imprsesive since being drafted in the first round back in 2006, but has been groomed as a closer of the future which doesn't bode too well considering the presence of All-Star Joakim Soria.

Now with a dynamite one-two punch in fold and an offense backed by the potent bats of Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart, the Brewers are in an excellent position to take home the NL Central crown.

While it's true that Greinke, Gallardo and Marcum have yet to be tested against the postseason big boys, this Milwaukee team that many thought were headed for a season in turmoil just got a whole lot better while simultaneously puting the rest of the MLB on notice.

The Milwaukee Brewers are for real.