Nov 16 2008
Braves moving past Peavy as bad taste lingers
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — On the first full day after the Atlanta Braves told the San Diego Padres to take their Jake Peavy hostage situation and shove it – for now – public sentiment remains that a deal very well could be done that would put the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner in a Braves’ uniform in 2009.
Whether it’s online polls, radio talk shows, or the e-mails landing in my inbox, there is plenty of thought surrounding that the Peavy deal may not be a done deal, at least not yet.
And while it wouldn’t surprise me if the Braves trot Peavy out to the hill for the season opener at Philadelphia on the first Sunday night in April, there is no denying the entire way the Padres jerked around the Braves during this process has left a bad taste in the mouths of Braves Nation.
Now, I don’t think this can be a direct on reflection on Peavy. I don’t know. I wasn’t on the phone with San Diego GM Kevin Towers, Barry Axelrod (Peavy’s agent) and Peavy himself. Sometimes, things happen in business that don’t sit well, and definitely, Towers’ posturing and inability to give the Braves a clear answer makes Towers look like the bad guy in all this.
The Padres now are talking about a trade with the Yankees. Maybe that would be a good thing. Were the Yanks to land Peavy, he’d be out of the National League, and it’s unlikely the Yanks – even with their deep pockets – would be able to acquire Peavy, and sign C.C. Sabathia, and still sign Derek Lowe and/or A.J. Burnett.
Those last two pitchers, Lowe and Burnett, are high on the Braves’ radar. If Peavy dons pinstripes, that probably takes the Yanks out of the running to sign both those highly-touted pitchers the Braves really need to land.
Yes, without Peavy, the Braves have to move and move quickly to land Lowe and Burnett. If the Braves don’t get at least one of those guys … well, let’s just say climbing past the Phillies and Mets and Marlins in the NL East will be a lot tougher.
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