We are just about one month away from the Major League Baseball trading deadline and the name Zack Greinke is going to be on everyone's lips.

This guy is clearly the ace of the staff for the Milwaukee Brewers and he will be a free agent after the season.

There are lots of reasons, good reasons, to trade him. But there are also reasons to keep him, some of them having to do with baseball but one reason to keep him has more to do with culture and belief.

Back in the 1950s Yankees manager Casey Stengel (who had managed the Brewers a decade earlier here) called Milwaukee "bushville." When he said it we were hurt. When we beat him we were gleeful. But despite that, the hurt remained.

I'm not suggesting that the slur of more than half a century ago still remains. But when the capital of the world gives voice to an opinion that you are bush league, the scar from that slight can remain.

Milwaukee doesn't think it's bush league. But we also don't believe we are major league. Milwaukee has long suffered a small inferiority complex and it remains today.

Now, I'm not naive enough to think that a baseball team and a single decision can turn that attitude around. But it can help.

And one way to help is to sign our own great players. Let us not forever be sellers, but let us become buyers. And the Zack Greinke matter is the perfect opportunity.

There is no doubt that he's one of the top pitchers in baseball. He turns 29 in October. He's a good guy, no trouble, no drama. He apparently likes being in Milwaukee. His wife is a former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. What's not to like?

It's going to take a lot of money to re-sign Greinke. Nobody knows how much. And the question, of course, is whether the Brewers can afford to keep him.

The answer is, of course they can afford him. The only question is whether the team wants to break it's own budget.

Mark Attanasio, who owns the team, has plenty of money. And like a good businessman he sets a budget for his team. He has increased the Brewers' payroll significantly since he bought the team and the results speak for themselves.

But nobody, Attanasio included, ever buys a professional sports team to make money every year. Owners know they will make their profit when they eventually sell their team.

But until that point, a team is just a very expensive plaything for right guys. The only thing they really want is a championship. Budgets are fine, but budgets are made to be broken.

I know that the common wisdom says trade Greinke and re-stock your depleted minor league system. That makes some sense.

But I also think that letting the bank crack a bit to re-sign one of the top pitchers in baseball sends a message that we will take a backseat to nobody in our efforts to bring a championship to Milwaukee.

And that's worth a lot more than a couple of minor leaguers who might or might not become stars.