As you have probably heard the San Diego Padres are actively shopping ace Jake Peavy to a number of National League teams. Peavy, an Alabama native, appears to favor a deal to the Atlanta Braves who were his favorite childhood team. But the question remains what would it take to land Peavy, a former Cy Young winner and a top 5 pitcher in the game, and would it be conducive to what the Braves as an organization are trying to accomplish?
The Padres and Braves were both horrible teams last year heading in similar paths in my opinion. They are not getting any better and the only way they will get better is if they load up on some young talent. The Braves have some young talent in the minors that are within a couple of years of making some impact. I'm talking about guys like Jason Heyward(future corner outfielder), Jordan Schafer(future CF), Gorkys Hernandez(CFer acquired in the Renteria trade), pitchers Tommy Hanson and Julio Teheran. The Braves would have to trade at least 2 of those guys along with a current MLB player like Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, or Jair Jurrjens in order to wet Padres GM Kevin Tower's palate to even consider trading the young Peavy who is locked up for 4 more years at below market value.
So would it be worth the risk for the Braves to give up all that young talent to secure an ace?
No. The Braves need pitching in the worse way. Tim Hudson, John Smoltz, Tommy Traitor, and Mike Hampton are all either gone next season or can't pitch due to injuries. Adding one guy in Peavy and subtracting a pitcher like Jurrjens doesn't make you any better it just makes you the Padres. Personally I would love to see Peavy in a Braves uniform but I don't think he will make the Braves a contender in the NL East. The Phillies and the Mets will be as good if not better next season when they add some free agents this offseason and the Marlins have a better nucleus of young talent ready to make some noise much like the Tampa Bay Rays are doing this year. The Braves have a shitload of holes already including starting pitching, corner infielders(Chipper isn't getting any healthier or younger), and outfielders and when you factor in trading your future away for one player it just doesn't make much sense. Now if the Braves want to open up their checkbook and start signing some significant free agents along with trading for Peavy then I can understand it but it seems like the Braves have no set direction ever since Frank Wren took over as GM.
I'm wondering what the other Sportscrack heads out there think it would take to land Peavy and would it be worth the risk? I know we have Cardinals and Dodgers fans on here among many other teams and want to hear what kind of players you think you would have to give up in order to land a Peavy. This isn't just a rumor of Peavy possibly getting traded it pretty much is in the works as we speak and a deal could be done within the next few days so I want to hear some opinions out there. If you are a Cards fan do you think trading Rasmus and some other pieces is worth it? Should the Dodgers trade Kemp and Kershaw for Peavy?
Post your comments below and let's talk about it.
First off, I'd like to say that I haven't been too satisfied with Frank Wren's work so far. Maybe I'm just biased, because I'm so used to John the man Schuerholz kicking so much ass for the Braves. Like you, I would love to see Peavy hurling the ball for the down-trodden Bravos, but I think it would be a band-aid on an injury that needs stitches.
ReplyDeleteWe can afford losing maybe one of our rising stars, but we can't afford to lose our future. When the Braves went from worst to first in 1991, one of my favorite years of my life by the way, they did it with raw, new, energized, and young players. These guys turned into hall of famers, and almost no one in the country had heard their names before that year. It even took 3/4 of the year to elapse before Fulton County Stadium began to fill up.
Long story short, I do think we need a stable veteran or two on the mound, but we need to develop these young studs coming up. We can't afford to sell away our future crop.
I agree with the previous dude on not making the deal, but if it were to take place, I think it would like something like
ReplyDeleteT. Hanson (best pitching prospect)
J. Schafer (stud CF prospect)
C. Rohrbrough (power lefty starter, probably 2nd best pitching prospect)
B. Lillibridge (can fill in at SS when the Pads let Khalil Greene walk)
and probably someone like Teheran (young pitcher with huge upside) to complete the deal
Personally, I don't want to see this happen as I feel 2009 is something of a lost cause with Timmy Hudson out most of the year, and Peavy having some injury questions after this past season... but if they were to pull off the deal and then sign maybe Derek Lowe and Adam Dunn/Pat Burrell to play left in the offseason, you could field a pretty fucking good team that would (if healthy) compete for the wild card at the least...
Lineup:
Blanco/Anderson
Escobar
Chipper
McCann
Dunn/Burrell
Kotchman
French
K. Johnson
Rotation:
Peavy
D. Lowe
Jurrjens
Campillo
Morton/Reyes/Chuck James/Hampton etc.
this team on paper, along with what looks to be a solid bullpen, would be competitive next season, but I just don't agree with unloading our farm system again just to aquire a guy who "might" get us to the postseason...
It's a very tough call, because Peavey is great, fills a need, and has an outstanding contract.