Zack Greinke: “I don’t really look forward to being traded”

Milwaukee skipping Zack Greinke’s turn in the rotation last week so he could “recharge his batteries” worked out pretty well, as Greinke returned last night with seven innings of one-run ball in what may be his final Brewers start.

Afterward he declined to discuss the specifics of any contract extension talks, although he did apologize to reporters for doing so and talked pretty openly about his feelings surrounding potentially pitching his last game in a Brewers uniform.

Here’s some of what he said, via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

It’s kind of fun playing here and we’ve got a lot of good players. We’re just not pulling out wins at the moment, which is disappointing. ... I really don’t want to think about a different team when I’m on this team. ... Obviously something could happen, but I enjoy playing here. I don’t really look forward to being traded from this place, but it could happen. That’s just baseball. I won’t take it personal if it happens. They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do what’s best for the organzation.

Every indication is that the Brewers will trade Greinke by July 31 if they aren’t able to work out a long-term extension and at this point there’s no real indication that extension talks have progressed very far.

Greinke’s next scheduled start is Sunday against the Nationals at Miller Park and the trade deadline is about 48 hours later.