Phillies trade rumors: Team on Zack Greinke’s no-trade list

The Phillies are among the teams on Zack Greinke’s no-trade list, making it significantly harder to work out a trade for him.

With James Paxton now a Yankee, Zack Greinke is the biggest starting pitcher reportedly on the trade market this offseason. The Phillies are one of the teams interested in Greinke, but his partial no-trade clause will make any trade for him harder.

Zach Buchanan of the Atheltic (subscription required) reports that Philadelphia is one of 15 teams Greinke would have to approve a trade to. The other teams in his no-trade clause are the Orioles, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Tigers, Yankees, Athletics, Padres, Giants, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Angels, Dodgers, and Twins.

Philadelphia being on Greinke’s no-trade list does not completely rule out. He could still approve the trade, but he may not do it without some enticement from the Phils or whatever team potentially tries to acquire him. He may decide to waive his clause if he feels whatever team he gets traded to has a better shot of winning over the remainder of his deal compared to the Diamondbacks.

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Buchanan notes in his article that the lone goal of the Diamondbacks is not just to clear salary. While that is purportedly a goal of theirs, they would still be looking to get a significant return for Greinke. The fact remains that he is still one of the best pitchers in the game at 35 years old.

Since Philadelphia has plenty of luxury tax space, they would be able to eat all of Greinke’s remaining salary.

This works out to $32 million per year when you remove Greinke’s signing bonus that Arizona still would have to pay. With that being said, Arizona will still look for a premium prospect return for Greinke.

Buchanan also shot down the notion of Greinke and Goldschmidt being packaged together in a deal. While this would be attractive for many teams, trading both players together would hamstring Arizona’s ability to get the best return they can for each. Each player has a market on their own, so they don’t need to be put together.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether or not Philadelphia puts together a strong enough package for Greinke. He has to want to come here, almost like a free agent.