Towers: Peavy To Braves Could Still Happen

why are the cubs out of the running now? not enough cash?

Um didn't the deal the the Braves already fall apart because Towers couldn't pull the trigger?

Do ittttttt. The Braves need him if they want to stay competitive.

Although Towers is going to start looking desperate soon. Just hoping he doesn't hold out as long as MIN did last season with Santana.

There's still time. The Winter Meetings don't start for another couple of weeks.

It's still between the Braves and the Dodgers. No one else has the prospects.

Towers is going to milk this until he gets what he wants, and rightfully so. I'd expect it to go down after a few big name FA pitchers sign.

Starting to feel bad for KT. He's literally begging to give away Peavy.

Towers: Fine, Frank. You don't want him, I'll trade him to... Chicago! So there.

Wren: Okay. Do it.

Towers: crap.

I hope Wren offers the same package as before, with the exception of Yunel Escobar. Swap him for Brent Lillibridge. Towers had his chance, he screwed up. Now he can settle for a little less.

I think this is the perfect time for the Cubs to get Peavy. The Braves will not offer nearly as much as they were before, so I wouldn't be suprised if the Cubs could get a trade done without a third team.

Lillibridge is a pretty big downgrade from Esocbar. I'd try to keep Yunel and move Flowers while he's hot.

drPhonic, The deal with the Braves for Peavy fell through because the Braves would not include enough top prospects to make it work for the Padres.

Now that the Yankees have offered CC Sabathia 6 years/$140 million as an opening salvo and after the Braves see the 5 year/$80 million offer the Yankees just gave Burnett and what Dempster got from the Cubs, they may be right back in the Peavy sweepstakes.

"I'd try to ... move Flowers while he's hot."

I completely agree. What need do you have in a 22yr old catcher when you have Brian McCann catching right now? Atlanta's good at finding hidden gems. The chances of finding another Flower's for them is pretty good, in my opinion.

Yeah, I guess my point isn't so much specific as it is general about making Towers take less.

"so why would Frank Wren offer as much in a package now. He knows that no one else is bidding for him anymore. Towers has hurt himself now"

Given how Dempster is already off the market and the Yankees are likely to get one or both of Lowe/Burnett this is the best way for the Braves to get a quality starter. People have been talking about how the Braves would be better off going with Lowe or Burnett as if it was a forgone conclusion they were going to get one of them if they passed on Peavy. The reality is they are likely going to miss out on both and are going to put more effort into Peavy.

Furcal sounds more than willing to go to the Braves so make a trade including Escobar and add Flowers like they reportedly asked about. The Braves can then sign Furcal and will have upgraded at shortstop and have added a top of the rotation starter.

The comments about Towers making mistakes, etc are overblown, he did not act in desperation and take a poor offer and is probably waiting till the Braves miss out on the top free agent starters.

I didn't say he would....but then again he could very well be thrust into that situation where he has to. He's going to look like an absolute rear end if he doesn't deal Peavy, and he has to now to cut the payroll. He's getting backed into a hole..this could get ugly for him.

If the Braves trade Escobar for Peavy and sign Furcal they are leaps and bounds better.

Peavy gives them the Ace they HAVE to have right now and Furcal gives them the leadoff hitter they've lacked since Furcal left for Dodger-ville a few years ago.

I agree with Land-Man that the Braves should try to sub-out Flowers instead of Escobar. I probably wouldn't go for it if I was Towers, but it's worth a shot.

If the package was to become Flowers/Hernandez/Morton then I would imagine Locke or Rohrbough would have to be the 4th, but maybe the Padres are higher on Boyer than I am.

The Braves are not getting Peavy with Escobar as a centerpiece. If the Braves want Peavy, they will have to trade Hanson. It's as simple as that. It's the same deal with the Cubs and Vitters, maybe Samardzija too.

123456789, Esco is proven talent at a premium position. Vitters is not. Samrdzija has a no trade, and I doubt he wants to go to Diego. Cubs are out.

jtd,

Towers is one of the better GMs in baseball and has been the Padres GM since the mid 90s so I am not sure what you meant by:

"Not to mention this guy took a playoff team a few years ago and made them one of the worst in the league. "

Padres fans are more pissed at the owner. The management has done a good job. The owner on the other hand is the one that is causing the problems. If the Padres were looking to have the same payroll this season they would be able to add a couple of pieces that would take them back to being competitive.

cwilli
I never said Towers was a bad GM all I meant was that few years ago this team was in the playoffs and now they are one of the worst teams in baseball. I realize that all the blame can't be put on him and that the ownership is being unreasonable in that they want him to cut payroll. Personally I think the worst decision that the team made was to build a stadium that kills offense.

"If the Braves want Peavy, they will have to trade Hanson. It's as simple as that."

That's just wrong on so many levels.

123456789 i dont think you get it. The cubs dont have the trade pieces besides vitters, the braves have other pieces than hanson. you have to include vitters because the rest is marshall, pie, and cedeno. We can offer multiple talented players. Just because you trade your best prospect doesnt mean we have to trade ours.

i dont think we can take escobar out and especially because it seems furcal is really excited about playing for us in one of the articles i read on here. But instead of it being like a 4-5 person trade for peavy make it like a 3-4 player trade for towers making us wait so long but dont try to take key pieces away.

Like I said last night, for once in my life and happy the Yankees are throwing money around. If the rumor is true about the Yankees throwing 5 years and 80 million at AJ, I dont see the Braves matching it. That leaves Lowe as the Braves last option on the free agent market, and the Mets and Red Sox have expressed interest. So if the Braves get none of the targeted free agents they may have to come back to the Padres as well.

Towers wasn't in charge of the Hoffman thing, that much is pretty clear to us here in San Diego, and we dont blame him for it. It was Alderson, and has been for some time. (If you want to go to XX sports radio and listen to his interview from last night)

Fuson is a good scout, and our lower minors are better for him, its just he wasted picks form 2003-2004 before he got here that has set us back badly.

atheleticsNbraves,
Yeah, the Escobar/Lilli thing was just an example. Like I said, my point was more general than specific.
BTW,
how many A's/Braves fans are there in the world? Have you by any chance ever been on the Atlanta Braves.com official message board?

Bravesfan,
And they didn't have the pieces for Harden...so everyone said and what happened??? They got Harden. They have the pieces to get it done. The question isn't about having the opieces its the willingness to trade them.

Airman- Fuson has drafted for 4 years and have ZERO top of the rotation starters in AAA and AA. That is pathetic.

About Morton. Matt Eddy of Baseball America said this of Denard Spann, "He is the biggest breakout candidiate next to Charlie Morton next season".
Charlie has really great stuff, it's just about when he figures that out. He could be a legit top half of the rotation guy easily when he gains some confidence.

Apollo- please do not overhype Morton. He has a career ERA 4.35. He had one good year and that was a half season in AAA. Morton is a head case. He is a throw in piece.

Apollo- please do not overhype Morton. He has a career ERA 4.35. He had one good year and that was a half season in AAA. Morton is a head case no thank you.

Julio Teheran is also only 17 years old. He's not going to crack baseball america's top 100 yet, and Hanson will be in the top 25%, so for now, Hanson's still #2. You seem to think that Atlanta only has three legit prospects...like the Cubs maybe?

And I'm not overhyping anyone, I'm simply quoting a guy who knows a few things and going on what I know from watching ALL of his big league starts.

jtd: that was one of the rumors, and the other was that it was going to be a reliever, whose name i cant remember.

Yeah, my point on Teheran being that he's strictly projection at this point.

njbraves,
They got beat because they enjoy defeat. JK

Exactly Apollo...he's all projection. The projection is at worst good, and most think he'll be great, but he's only thrown a handful of innings at the pro level. We won't see him in Atlanta (or another ML club) until 2012 or so.

Ah, well actually, there is another like you out there. She used to be on the forum, don't know if she still is or not, that's why I asked.

Blaine Boyer was the reliever...RHP with a very good K rate and acceptable BB rate in his relatively brief stints in the majors (2 years of service time). HRs were a big problem last year, so Petco would definitely be a big help. If its the Braves refusal to replace him with Locke that has held this deal up, then I don't know what Wren is thinking.

Thanks for the name. And anyone blaming KT for not taking a trade with those as the arms involved is just dumb. KT never gets bullpen arms that way, never. He trades a Ben Johnson for a Heath Bell, is my point.

No one really knows what was offered, or demanded. As such we can not really blame either front office. But if the rumor is true about Flowers instead of Gorky/Schafer, I will be pissed. Thats not cause I do not believe catcher is a need, but i have serious doubts that Flowers defense will allow him to stay behind the plate. We do not need a 1st baseman.

DTogo, they suck as developing pitching, and selecting pitching. That is the truth. But high end players not so much, position players we have hit more and more.

3 years ago, we didn't have a 3rd baseman, now we have two. We have plenty of outfielders that are in the pipeline, no matter what you think, they might not be superstars in the waiting, but could be all solid everyday players. Keep in mind that we haven't had a top 10 pick since 2004, and that was the year before Fuson got here.

Um, bravesfan22193, I am not a Cubs fan.
I'm just saying that the reason the Padres said that they didn't think they could get a deal done with the Braves was because their offer was sub-par, and when you think about it, it was. Escobar is proven? Last season he had a tough year in what is considered a hitter's park. The production would fall playing in Petco. Gorkys is more upside than anything, something that isn't too appealing when trading a Cy Young Award winner. And those pitchers named? They might do better playing in Petco, but still, they are nothing more than 4/5th starters. That's why the Padres let the Braves drop out. While Towers thinks a deal with the Braves could get done, I doubt the Braves would want to pursue him any further.
It is going to be too hard to trade Peavy unless he would approve a trade to some other teams. The Cubs and Braves offers are not good. The Braves would have to include Hanson. To get a superstar, you will have to give up more than Yunel Escobar. The Cubs would have to include Vitters AND find a third team. Not happening.

123456789: that point of view is skewed. Hanson isnt going anywhere. When you trade a Peavy you want value, but you are not going to get equal value from one player. Its about finding a balance. A deal that would help the Padres in the long run is the objective.
A deal that gives an SS for 5 years, a CF of the future, and two rotation arms is fair. It takes a great player away, sure, but it adds more to the system than it removes. Thus fair from the Padres standpoint. (Depending on the arms involved)

I know this is will get beaten down, but this would be the best deal from the Padres standpoint. (this is not a rumor, just in my opinion a conjuncture)
Peavy for
Escobar/Schafer/Locke/Rohrbough

Airman SD:

"Escobar/Schafer/Locke/Rohrbough"

Sorry dude, isn't happening. I'm pretty sure your team prefers Gorkys Hernandez. And I haven't heard Schafer brought up in a while. I think the main parts of the deal have been agreed too, like Towers just said today.

Yunel Escobar, Gorkys Hernandez, Charlie Morton or Jo Jo Reyes and then Blaine Boyer.

That was the trade Towers rejected and asked for an additonal piece. I have a feeling that if the Braves added Locke to that deal, this thing would be done tomorrow. But Frank Wren won't have that.

NEBravesfan33, i know that we prefer Gorky, but we also said we wanted near MLB ready players. But you are right that the position player would be Escobar/Hernandez. But the pitchers were the hold up. And we wanted more upside than Morton, and a reliever is a joke for Peavy.

I know this is will get beaten down, but this would be the best deal from the Padres standpoint. (this is not a rumor, just in my opinion a conjuncture)
Peavy for
Escobar/Schafer/Locke/Rohrbough

Posted by: AirmanSD | November 18, 2008 at 06:42 PM

That's nice that you would want all of that, but I doubt that will happen.

I think a more likely package the Padres will be offered will center around Flowers and Hernandez instead. Add in pitchers, Locke/Medlen and Reyes/Morton, I think that will be the deal.

"Also suggest pitchers that they have passed on in their draft position over the last few years that you would want"

Tommy Hanson, maybe?

(sorry cwilli, couldn't resist - in fact, finding a guy like that in the 22nd round is part of the beauty/dumb luck of baseball).

2 international pitchers. How about one? Adis Portillo is the top pitcher. Elvin Tavarez
is a diamond in the rough not a top pitcher. Nick Schmidt over Porcello good choice! Stop over rating the Padres farm system. They are not 12th bt Baseball America they are between 16-20 by Callis.

Pocello signed a 7 million dollar deal, a ton of teams passed on him because of his price tag. Tavarez was the 10th rated international prospect, not just pitcher, so I am not sure what you want. Also I have not once said they have top minor league system, just simply that they had improved under the people you are trying to discredit. They go from the 30th ranked system to the 13th ranked system in one year and that is not good.

Hahaha

These Peavy rumor threads continue to get more and more ridiculous with each and every passing day. SD fans, you think somehow you are going to get more now? So Wren makes his best offer, KT says no thanks. That is fine, Wren says good luck and moves on. So because the Cubs signed Dempster (who is not an ace by the way) and the Yankees are rumored to be signing every FA just like the rumors are every year somehow SD has more leverage than they did before? That is laughable! If KT comes knocking on our door again it's obvious to everyone but SD fans that KT messed up, why would we give them more? He simply isn't going to be the same pitcher away from that park and if he wants a NTC and us to automatically pick up that option then his contract is no longer below market value. Peavy declined this season, outside of that park he isn't the same pitcher and he has now become an injury risk so I hope Wren offers even less and basically says take it or leave it or at worst settle for the original offer.

Peavy is still a very good pitcher, don't get me wrong, but with or without him we still need far to much help to be a contender and it's obvious to everyone outside SD (no surprise there) that he will decline once he leaves that park. I'd much rather us try to land Lowe first and then at least we know if we had Peavy we may have a shot at the division. Worst case scenario here is Wren pulls a Tex deal and we fail to sign any other FA. Best case scenario is we can sign Lowe or Burnett, we have preliminary talks with Furcal to make sure he does want to come to play for us and we have a tentative agreement and then KT takes at most the original deal (which was Escobar, Gorkys, Morton or Reyes and Boyer I think). It's obviously the best offer that has been leaked out and you can see the other teams just are not willing to top it with several reports saying the other teams feel his demands are simply to high.

Why would we give you Schafer + Lock, Medlen or Rohrbough when nobody was willing to top our original offer? You all are in complete denial here and if Wren does that then he continues to disappoint me as a GM. At least when JS pulled the trigger for Tex we were close to contending but got hammered with injuries. We may not even be a .500 team if the only addition we make is Peavy and have to give up Escobar and our #4 or #5 SP in Morton to land him. This isn't rocket science.

I hope Wren doesn't deal Escobar. Furcal has reportedly received offers equal to the 3-years $39 million the Braves we're unwilling to pay the last time he was a free agent. Renteria and Furcal are both going to go for 4-years, $60 million.

I would like to see what kind of package we would have to put together to bring Jermaine Dye back to Atlanta.