Braves.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

BLUE RIDGE, Ga. — Greetings from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains which, I guess it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out, is from where this idyllic little town draws its name.

I’m writing this blog during the midst of a three-day weekend, one that has been sorely needed. No, I’m not going to bore you with the details; just say the Scribe has been working like a fool for the past three months, and along with the domestic responsibilities of being a good husband and a good father, well, you know where I’m coming from when I say I’m in need of a break from the duties that fill anywhere from 16-20 hours of my day, every day.

And no, I’m not complaining. Please don’t take it that way. This is the life I have, and I love it. I totally adore my day job. I love blogging about the Braves and the Thrashers. I constantly am amazed that I’ve been blessed with a wife and two sons. My life is very good, very fulfilling … but I need a break.

And even though it’s the offseason for the baseball team I cover, there’s never really a break, is there? Not in this age of instant information, of the 24/7 news cycle, of blogs and on-demand news access. Nope, no rest here.

So here goes. Today, we’re talking about the two magic words that have Braves fans who are watching the 2008 postseason dreaming of tomahawks waving and voices chanting come this time next October:

Jake Peavy.

OK, that might not be fair, to put that much on the potential acquisition of one player who only hits the field every fifth day. But trust me. I’ve talked to enough people the past week, whether it’s my friends who e-mail me, the folks who read the blog, the radio show I do each week, or just the people in my neighborhood, and all of them share pretty much the same thought:

If the Braves trade for the 27-year-old, Alabama-bred, hard-throwing, lock-down right-hander, they are instant contenders for a postseason berth in 2009.

(And wow, that might be a record for most consecutive hyphenated phrases in the history of baseball scribing … somebody get Elias on the phone.)

Back to Peavy. As I wrote last weekend, he would be the undoubted No. 1 bulldog the Braves need at the top of the rotation. Talk about a great mentor for Jair Jurrjens. Talk about a great arm to put at the front of the staff. Talk about an ace, in his prime, locked up on the cheap for the next four years.

Talk all you want … but it’s gonna take time for this deal to happen.

Those of you who think the Padres are gonna ship Peavy to the Braves this week, keep dreaming. Deals like this take time. Experience has taught me that; I left my best friend a voicemail Thursday night joking that, with my luck, the Peavy deal would go down while I was tucked way up in the hills, and I’d be scrambling to bang out a breaking news blog during a weekend where I’m supposed to be straight chilling, sitting in the hot tub watching college football by day and World Series ball by night.

Don’t see it happening, though, not this weekend at least.

But the more I think about it, the more I believe the Braves’ brass realizes what most of us know, and that’s this organization has to step up and make this type of move to anchor the pitching staff, a staff that was rocked by injuries so much in 2008, a week that went by without a starter landing on the DL had to be considered a good week regardless of how poorly the Braves may have played.

The past few days have been filled with rampant speculation surrounding who the Braves would deal to acquire the services of Peavy. What prospects to deal? What major leaguers to include? How many players need to go west in order for Peavy to come to Atlanta?

Last weekend, I raised the idea of sending Kelly Johnson to San Diego in a deal for Peavy, and if I’m the Pads, I gotta really consider that. Johnson tore the cover off the ball the final two months of the season, has just two full seasons of playing second base in the majors, and had tremendous upside, in my opinion. I know some of you don’t see that in KJ, and that’s fine. You have your opinions, and I have mine, and mine is KJ is a potential .300 hitter every year who will only get better in the field at his new position.

But I also saw enough out of Martin Prado the final two months to say I’m totally fine with Prado playing second base 150 games next season. Dude hits the ball hard, on a line, to all fields. He works the count. He’s good in the field. He hustles like nobody’s business. I think in playing every day, dude will only get better. I love his swing, his work ethic and his defense. Dude is a baseball player in every sense of the word.

Some of the speculation swirls around Yunel Escobar. I think you’ve got to try and get this deal done without sending Escobar, his .300 average, his instincts, his cannon arm and his upside to the West Coast. True, Escobar can be moody, and he’s prone to two-week slumps where he looks totally lost. But remember, dude has been a major leaguer for all of 16 months, and I think he’s an All-Star in the making.

You just don’t deal somebody like that without trying your darnest to not include him in the deal.

If I’m the Padres, I push like crazy for Escobar. If I’m the Braves, I try like hell not to send Escobar west. It’s discussions like this that have to take place before any deal is done, and that’s why if you’re holding your breath for a trade announcement, it’s going to be a while before it happens.

My gut says it will happen, though. I hope Escobar’s not included, but if and when it comes right down to it, I think the Braves have to get Peavy in the fold. If that means, at the end of the day, they have to trade Escobar, I’d swallow the lump in my throat and say do the deal. But there’s a lot of ground to cover between now and then.

It’s a process, Braves Nation. Be patient. And do what I’m doing this weekend:

Chill.

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