"As of late last week, it appeared Doug Melvin might come up one pitcher short.

The Milwaukee Brewers general manager could not find a suitable return in entertaining offers for slugging first baseman Prince Fielder. Seeking an impact pitcher in return, Melvin wasn't going to trade Fielder just to trade him.

Waiting for the right deal proved to be the best thing for the Brewers after Melvin completed a trade Sunday to acquire Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke for four young, talented players, including prized shortstop Alcides Escobar and top pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi. The Brewers also received shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and cash in the trade.

Not succumbing to sub-par offers and keeping Fielder in the fold for his last season before free agency, as well as trading top prospect Brett Lawrie to Toronto for right-hander Shaun Marcum, intrigued Greinke enough that he waived his no-trade clause with Milwaukee.

"I think I made that decision to put them on the list too quickly; I didn't think about it long," Greinke said during a phone interview Monday before a morning news conference at Miller Park. "I knew Prince only had one year left on his contract and I wasn't sure what direction they were going to go in with him. But once they signed Marcum and didn't trade Prince, I knew they were in it."

It was something Greinke knew the Royals couldn't offer - a chance to win next season.

In August, Greinke went on the record with his frustration and said he doubted the Royals farm system, viewed as the best in baseball by evaluators, would help the big-league club before his contract ran out after 2012. Greinke also admitted the losing caused him to lose focus last season, contributing to a dip in numbers - 10-14, 4.17 earned run average - from 2009 when he won the American League Cy Young with a league-best 2.16 ERA.

Those reasons led Greinke to request a trade, but he had 15 teams on his original no-trade list, including the Brewers. He exercised that clause to nix a deal to the Washington Nationals, allowing the Brewers to re-enter the fray after having previously failed to work out a deal.

"I think when he saw that we picked up Marcum and it appeared Prince would be here, his list changed and he wanted to be a part of our organization," Melvin said.

"I'm glad I didn't give up on it. I called (Royals general manager Dayton (Moore) up last week and said, 'Was there any way we could start talking again?' I knew it was going to be a costly trade - we gave up some very talented players - and if I was in Dayton's seat I would have selected the players that he did, too."