Braves.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

ATLANTA — And on this final day of the Winter Meetings, the merry-go-round continues.

A.J. Burnett to the Braves? The Yankees? Who’s guaranteed a fifth year? Who’s readying a final push?

Derek Lowe as a backup plan for the Braves? Possible, one source says. Wait, scratch that. Another report says Atlanta isn’t interested.

Jake Peavy to the Cubs, at long last? No so fast, my friend. The deal is “dead,” according to Kevin Towers, the San Diego general manager who is as popular in Georgia as General Sherman.

Dizzy yet?

So if you’re the Braves, what do you do? The Yankees have guaranteed a fifth year to Burnett, at a salary ranging from $80 million to $85 million over the five years. Word is the Braves are preparing one last offer, one final shot to try and lure Burnett away from the bright lights of the Bronx and come south, to serve as the ace anchor to the rotation Atlanta desperately needs.

If that fails, do you revisit Peavy? Plenty of animosity has built up with some of the poorly veiled shots Towers has taken at Frank Wren while complementing what a pleasure it is to negotiate with the Cubs.

Wonder how ol’ Kevin feels now? Wonder how the Braves feel? If you’re Wren, and you see Burnett’s odds of joining C.C. Sabathia in pinstripes growing by the hour, do you pick up the phone and tell the Padres you’re willing to reopen negotiations?

And if not, then what? What’s Plan C, if Plan A (Peavy) and Plan B (Burnett) fall through?

A phone call to Towers can’t hurt … even if part of me would like to tell Towers to take Peavy and, well, you get the gist. But considering one Cubs official said the Padres were looking for a “Herschel Walker type trade,” you get the feeling the Padres simply want too much for Peavy and that stance won’t change.

So where do we go from here? Stay tuned.

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