Nov 15 2008
Give Wren, Braves credit for not caving into Padres’ demands for Peavy
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — For now, the price stands too steep. For now, with the calendar having reached mid November, it’s time to go to Plan 1-A.
For now, stop drooling over the thought of Jake Peavy in an Atlanta Braves uniform.
A negotiation that figured to land the Atlanta Braves one of baseball’s best pitchers carried on … and on … and on some more, as San Diego general manager Kevin Towers stretched what should’ve been an easy process into something that Braves’ GM Frank Wren found unacceptable.
And so, it ends. For now.
Friday’s announcement by Wren that the Braves are done pursuing Peavy shouldn’t be seen as a death knell to this process. The likelihood of Peavy being traded to the Braves is much slimmer than it was 24 hours ago, but I still wouldn’t be surprised if the negotiations reopen at some point and the Braves end up landing the 27-year-old Alabama native.
But give Wren credit for not being bullied. He balked at Towers’ insistence that phenom Tommy Hanson be included in the deal. Some – including this writer – said it was OK to ship Hanson out west, because in return the Braves would be getting a game-changing ace with a career ERA of 3.25 whose locked up for $59 million over the next four seasons.
Give Wren credit. He stuck to his guns. He refused to include Hanson, or Jason Heyward, or any of the other great young talent the Braves have in their minor-league depths, one of the deepest and most-talented farm systems in the majors. Wren made a fair offer, and while names have not been confirmed by the Braves, it’s widely believed star-shortstop-in-the-making Yunel Escobar, along with the very talented Charlie Morton, the highly regarded Gorkys Hernandez, and a fourth player were ready to be packaged to San Diego for Peavy.
When Towers drug his feet, Wren stepped away.
Good for Wren. Good for the Braves.
With free agents able to begin negotiations with any team starting Friday, the Braves had to have an answer from Towers. Given no answer, the Braves made the choice for San Diego’s indecisive GM. Atlanta has no choice but to land at least one, and probably two, solid top-of-the-rotation starters this offseason. And believe me, folks, there are plenty of teams lining up to snag Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett and Ryan Dempster.
Can you image what would’ve happened if Wren had allowed this shell game by Towers to carry on for another week or two, and if Lowe and/or Burnett and/or Dempster signed with somebody else. At that point, the Braves would’ve been backed into a very uncomfortable corner, a place where they would’ve had to include whatever Towers demanded in order to get Peavy … or say no, and get nothing.
That would’ve been unacceptable. Fortunately for the Braves, Wren had the foresight to say enough was enough.
Towers played hardball, and lost. For now. He stated at last week’s GM meetings that Peavy would be traded. The Padres are under a strong mandate to slash their payroll substantially. Peavy is as good as gone, and I fully expect him to be dealt at some point this offseason.
And again, it wouldn’t surprise me if Peavy ends up in Atlanta. But Wren sent a clear message Friday that the Braves will not be bullied. They will not be held hostage by a GM who can’t make up his mind what to do.
Towers could be sitting in his office today with an All-Star caliber shortstop, a great young pitcher, a great potential star centerfielder and another player, and be rid of Peavy’s salary. Instead, he’s stuck. And the Braves are moving on about the business of building a winner for 2009.
Towers waited. Towers lost, because Frank Wren refused to cave.
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Other than Tim Hudson their other pitcher’s are average. Who do you think the Braves will get to help their starting rotation?
There is no denying the Braves’ rotation is priority No. 1 in upgrading this team and making it relevant again in the NL East. And, with Hudson likely to miss all of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, there are plenty of holes to fill.
I would not classify Jair Jurrjens as average, though. As a rookie, he won 13 games with a strong ERA, and demonstrated the ability and the mental approach needed to be a big-time winner in the majors. I think he’s a guy that will develop into an ace within the next couple of years, a guy you can count on for 15-18 wins and a 3.00 ERA year-in, and year-out.
Jorge Campillo was a nice surprise, but he’s a middle of the rotation type guy. The rest of the remaining candidates — Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes, James Parr — need experience (Morton, Parr) or mental toughness (Reyes) if they are going to help this team in 2009.
Morton has the most upside of those three. Parr was a nice surprise after his late-season promotion. Reyes was good for a month early in the season, then reverted back to the maddening inconsistency and lack of toughness that has frustrated the Braves’ brass.
Atlanta has to land at least one, if not two, front-line pitchers. And now, you can’t count on Tom Glavine or John Smoltz to be healthy. As I wrote Friday, the Braves could do worse than Mike Hampton in the fifth spot.
But Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett have to be top priority for this team. With the Jake Peavy trade talks over for now, the Braves have to be aggressive in trying to land at least one of those guys (Lowe or Burnett), and preferably, sign both.
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It took big stones to call the Padres bluff. If the Braves get Burnett and Lowe and don’t have to give up anything that will prove to be a big win for the Braves. Towers got insane with trying to get just one more player thrown in. If Peavy was worth all that he wanted the Braves to give up to get him the Padres would’ve been in the playoffs.
KT: You are right on about that. Towers royally screwed himself and, believe me, the rest of baseball has noticed. He won’t come close to getting the type of deal he would’ve gotten from the Braves, and still, he’s stuck now having to trade Peavy.
He’ll get far less in return. It’s not out of the realm of possibility the Braves sign Lowe or Burnett — or both — and still land Peavy for a deal that won’t hurt Atlanta as much as last week’s proposed deal.
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