"What exactly are the Milwaukee Brewers getting in Zack Greinke?

Unlike other Cy Young Award winners who have switched teams in recent years, such as CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, Greinke has had more ups and downs. Yet, people throughout baseball still consider him one of the top pitchers in the game.

A first-round draft pick in 2002, Greinke first surfaced on the national radar screen in spring 2006 when he left the Kansas City Royals due to what later was revealed as social anxiety disorder. At the time, some feared he would quit the game for good.

"That was early in his career," said Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who completed the six-player deal that sent four young players to Kansas City for Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

"I've talked to people who say he's a good athlete, a good competitor. They say he can swing the bat, too. Here's a guy who wants to compete and has drive."

Greinke, 27, performed well in 2008, going 13-10 with a 3.47 ERA. But it was the next season when he broke through in a big way, going 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and an assortment of other impressive numbers that resulted in the American League Cy Young Award.

But Greinke fell back in 2010, going 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA in 33 starts. He caused a stir by saying he was tired of the Royals' constant losing.

Greinke decided to force the issue in recent days by changing agents and asking to be traded to a team with a better chance of winning. Officially, he had become tired of losing.

"I think this will re-energize him," Melvin said.

Some consider Greinke's personality puzzling because he has a sharp sense of humor, isn't shy about expressing opinions and sometimes seems aloof. But he is a fierce competitor who desperately wants to win and should blossom even more in the right situation.

On the mound, Greinke is the complete package. He features a fastball in the low to mid 90s with good movement, a knee-buckling curveball and sharp, nasty slider in the mid 80s (mph). His changeup can be an effective pitch at times also, and he works all quadrants of the plate, keeping hitters guessing.

Greinke repeats his mechanics well and is somewhat deceptive in his delivery. By any reasonable measure, he is a No. 1 starting pitcher, something the Brewers haven't had since CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets departed after the 2008 season."