Wren Considering Trade For Pitcher

Any body have an idea who they might be willing to trade? Shoppach (sp?) for pitching or is that silly to even think about.

Oh, the tease...must know proposal...

I'd imagine it's probably with the Rays or Twins, as they seem like the two teams that have an abundance of pitching, especially the Twins.

Maybe he's trying to let Lowe know that he needs to take our offer quick because theres other guys on our radar. Or maybe he's full of crap...

How about some of the Yankees young arms for one of your outfield prospects. Swish, Kennedy, and Brackman for Heyward

Typical Yankee fans...they want to unload guys they don't want and are looking for studs in return. Heyward is going nowhere.

Wren should talk to Brian Sabean. For the right offer, I'm positive that he could trick Sabes into giving him Barry Zito.

This could simply be PR spin, as many fans feel he has been asleep at the wheel with some of his moves (or lack thereof) this off-season (Vazquez deal, no Peavy, lost Smoltz, lost Burnett, etc.)

Makes Wren sound more active in the market than maybe he really is.

Personally, I think the Braves will end up being happy they missed out on Burnett and Smoltz.

HANSON AND HEYWARD WILL NOT BE TRADED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! WREN HAS SAID THIS 20,000 TIMES PUBLICLY, IN HOUSE, AND TO THE PLAYERS THEMSELVES. PLEASE STOP MENTIONING THEM.

On a lighter note, I think the trade is for a slightly overpaid vet like Harang, Padilla, Arroyo, Millwood, etc or a young middle rung young starter like Sonnenstine.

Perhaps it's for Zack Greinke.

Candocantu, i was going to say the same thing,

everyone is upset that Wren lost out on 4 moves this ofseason, and eveyone thinks its going to be Lowe or the braves have no chance in 2009.

could also be a ploy which makes the offer for Lowe seem like a good one, Boras will try to get Lowe a higher price.

Braves trade Hanson to SF and Heyward to the Mariners and get Zito and Silva in return.

Typical Yankees fan dumping their trash and wanting treasure in return. Heyward will NOT be traded.

whats the point of commenting on guys that have zero chance of being traded

Great. Someone mentioned Peavy.

Here come the Cubs fans.....

Id much rather spend the money on lowe or even sheets than trade our prospects at this point. If we were tight with money sure...do what you gotta do to get players, but we still got 30+ mil to spend. Spend it Frank!!

Probable that this proposal (proposals?) are contingent on other things. Perhaps Wren is working on a trade "a" which would hinder trade "b". Or the other team is waiting for something else. Maybe a guy would waive a no-trade clause if Lowe became a Brave. Or Kawakami.

bbxxj,
There all we got Man, lol.

Plus in your comment above, I would hardly consider Harang overpaid, he would be an awesome fit, would much rather have him than Lowe, as he has a much better upside, and wouldn't cost as much in $, prolly would take a lot to get him though, not too many guys can consistently throw up ERA's around 3.60, 210+ Inn, in that ballpark, he would be filthy at the Ted.

If you can't tell that on your own, there is no helping you ScottBravesfan19.

sampsonite168 - now, you're talking!

come on people think about the question that was asked to Wren - "doesnt this put you in a position where you have to pay more for Derek Lowe"
obviosuly Wren is going to say there are other options and he has trade proposals right in front of him and not going to come out and be like yea we have to pay more for Derek Lowe because there is no one left out there - even though it is probably the truth Wren is not that dumb.

I would hope that if the Braves trade for a pitcher it is a young one like Jonathan Sanchez or Andy Sonnanstine. Their rotation next year is full of old guys (except for Jurrjens). And if they sign Lowe, the rotation gets even older.

Smoltz' Beard: I completely agree with you. If they acquire Padilla, I will probably vomit uncontrollably for the next month! Harang would be the better option. If the Harang deal gets done, it would take at least an OF with power (do we even know what one of those are), and also a SS/ possibly a mid level pitcher also.

Yankee Fans, the Braves have to depend on their farm system which is why they guard their prospects so carefully. It's not like they have an unlimited budget and can buy up every available free agent on the market like SOME teams do.

Jason Heyward has been called a prospect that you see once every ten years. He is NOT being traded.

and stop the Joba comparisons. Joba has proved he is flat out dominating on a MLB level. It is completely absurd to compare Joba to Heyward when he has done NOTHING besides the potential to be good one day if everything goes according to plan.....and again this is baseball, very rarely does that happen.

I'm a Yankee fan, but when I see those trade proposals I just can't imagine what these fans are thinking.

I really understand fans from m other teams when they see those trades, they are stupid proposals. Unless is a salary dump, the trade needs to hurt form both sides.

Greinke would probably cost as much in return as Peavy would have. There are no aces out there unless the Jay's suddenly hate Halladay or Houston wants to oust Oswalt. I'm sure that will happen when pigs fly so, I still like Harang. Oh, I will take Zito if the Giants pay his entire salary and we trade the old jersey of Julio Franco for him!

.

So the Braves should give up the #3 prospect for Kennedy (not proven starter), Brackman (didn't cut the top 50), and swisher (which you got using scraps).
Come on. Heyward could probably be had but not for that crap.

Scribbletone....how can you say Heyward is to the braves what Joba is to the Yankees.
Has Heyward played a game for the braves yet? No. Have you or any of the Braves fans ever even seen him play? Probably not. Did he get your entire fan base excited by dominating everybody in baseball? Nope. Can you even tell me if Jason Heyward is black or white? You will probably google it quick to find out if he is black or white.

yanks09,

When you're in a hole, stop digging.

Bravesworld Brackman didn't make the list because he was recovering from Tommy John. Kennedy has shown promise at the major league level. Swisher we got for scraps but that was because their were so many corner outfielders on the free agent market and Williams panicked and took the first decent deal thrown his way because he wanted to unload Swish so bad.

Heyward is a top prospect but extremely far away from showing anything.

2002 "Can't miss prospects"
1.) Josh Beckett
2.) Hank Blalock
3.) Sean Burroughs
4.) Nick Johnson
5.) Mark Prior
6.) Wilson Betemit
7.) Juan Cruz
8.) Ryan Anderson
9.) Joe Borchard
10.) Nick Neugebauer

How many from that list lived up to their hype besides Beckett? Thats a 10% success rate for "can't miss players". But yet you want to hold on to everyone.

daslied. If Joba turned out to have anywhere near the career Johan has had I would be ecstatic. But, Johan has declined. If it was Joba for Johan 5 years ago I don't think anyone would even hesitate to make that trade. But this is the older declining Johan Santana who wanted $160 mil contract extension. So the Yankees would have to give up the money and Joba PLUS another prospect or 2. Or they could have waited a year kept their young players and got CC Sabathia, the younger and better pitcher than Johan.

No one is untouchable.

That being said, the Braves will not touch Swisher/Brackman/Kennedy for the reasons stated, and the Braves won't send his potential for a decent OF, a pitcher that has never thrown a professional pitch, and a spare part starter.

The only guys Atlanta would move Heyward/Hanson for are on the order of Halladay. So you see why Braves fans are calling them untouchables and how pointless conjecture is when it comes to those two.

As to the deal that has been on his desk for 6 weeks, it could be something involving Yunel Escobar still, as much as I don't like it. The Furcal fiasco could have something to do with it, and why it hasn't been done/why its been around for so long. It would make sense if it was Greinke or someone of his ilk, but this is only my conjecture.

Oh, and please don't let it be Padilla.

I am curious, though, what the Braves would give up for Arroyo? He is signed w/option year included for 3/31.5, has put up good numbers for three years in a hitters ballpark, and always throws 200 innings a year. Would one of Schafer/Hernandez and one of Rohrbaugh/Locke be wishful thinking on my part?

Posted by: carolina03 | January 12, 2009 at 01:17 PM

Personally, I think that's too much for Arroyo. But, the Braves offered Tommy Hanson for Arroyo a couple of years ago and the Reds turned them down. Soooooo...who knows.

Listen, I don't want to turn this into a Yankees debate. The point I am making is the Braves seem to be fixed on competing this year. They still need a couple pieces in order to do that. If everything goes right for Heyward he is still years away from contributing to the Braves on the major league level. Heyward could net a lot in a return and plug many holes the Braves have.

The Braves need to make a decision, either begin rebuilding, or trade some of their prospects to keep the team competitive. Being caught in between is only going to make the franchise suffer for a longer period.

Thanks, cmb0252 - was going to post that. Also, the Teixeira contract was bigger than CC's, no?

Yanks09

The Braves, have pieces to be competitive this year, facts are they don't have a great shot this year, but Heyward could possibly be and Hanson definately will be in the bigs in 2010. We're not gong to sacrifice 6 years potential production from Heyward, for 4 well compensated years of Swisher, a guy who has never hit for average has 25HR potential and is adequate defensively. I agree players that are atleast a full year away should always be available, because there are too many question marks, but we're going to get something awesome if we do trade him.

Also thanks for reminding us all that 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA in 234.1 innings is "declining". Also just a thought as to the competing now aspect of your argument, if you would've trade for Johan, you would've been in the playoffs last October.

The offer has been on his desk for 6 weeks but it wasn't accepted and probably never will be.

It seems to be the time period the Sox asked about McCann. Sox probably made an offer (Buchholz, Ellsbury, Kottaras, maybe), that the Braves probably wouldn't accept.

He is just trying to lower the price on a FA.

IDC about the Yankees or whatever but when AJ blows his arm out I will just laugh and if they dont make the P/O's it would be funny, but I hope the Braves stay away from Swisher and that crew even Nady. I think Arroyo is a good arguement because he fits the mold perfectly of what Wren wants a workhorse veteran pitcher. Harang would be that too so either of those two wouldnt surprise me. I just hope we can get Lowe though that would make me the happiest cause I have always liked Derek Lowe and would love to see him in a Braves uniform.

As a Royals fan this post scares me. Sure, I think we could get quite a bit in return for Greinke, but I'd prefer to keep him.

I just really hope that if we were to trade someone it's not Yunel. We have no one to replace him unless in the trade a ML-Ready shortstop came. I dont want to put everything on hoping Cabrera would come here and honestly would rather keep Yunel.

bravo84....I understand their is the potential for greatness in Heyward. But right now its just potential. Wren needs to decide whether to go into rebuilding mode and hope the franchise will be built around Heyward in 4-5 years, or trade prospects to be competitive now, he can't have both.

and you are missing the point about Johan. He is declining, his numbers were relative to him going to the NL. His era jumped half a point his last year on the Twins in the AL. CC out pitched him in 2007 both statistically and head to head while carrying the Indians to the playoffs over the Twins. He did the same thing in 2008 except he carried the Brewers on his back to the playoffs this time over the Mets. There is no doubt CC is the better pitcher at this point in their careers. They both cost roughly the same annually, only Johan would have cost Joba and another prospect.

Point is if the Yankees made the trade for Johan they would not have went after CC this year. So not only do the Yankees have a better #1 by waiting for CC, they also have a better back of the rotation by holding onto Joba.

Which rotation sounds better...

a.) Johan, Burnett, Wang, Hughes, and #5 a mystery/another young starter

or

b.) CC, Burnett, Wang, Joba, Hughes

The clear and obvious answer is A. The Yankees sacrificed missing the playoffs for one year (and lets be honest I don't think Johan would have pushed the Yanks in) for a better and younger rotation for years to come.

Wren needs to decide whether to go into rebuilding mode and hope the franchise will be built around Heyward in 4-5 years, or trade prospects to be competitive now, he can't have both.
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Yanks09,

He has decided. He isn't going to trade Heyward or Hanson. Everyone is right when they say nobody is untouchable, but those guys would require guys in return that nobody would offer. The Brave's minor league is stacked with prospects that Wren is willing to deal, but Heyward and Hanson aren't on that list.

The Yankees sacrificed missing the playoffs for one year (and lets be honest I don't think Johan would have pushed the Yanks in) for a better and younger rotation for years to come.
_______________________

I bet the Yankees didn't think they were not going to make the playoffs in 08.

It is really dumb to argue over Johan and CC.

Johan--Helluva pitcher
CC-----Helluva pitcher

The only good part is that CC only cost money plus a 2nd round pick. Johan would of cost Phil, IPK, Melky, Hilligross or some other combination that would of had to include Cano or Wang.

Obviously the Yanks did not think they were going to miss the playoffs in 08. They more than likely would of made it if Posada, A-Rod, Matsui, Damon, and Wang did not get hurt. Also if Phil and IPK did anythign in the beginning or at all season we would have made it. The Yankees were a below average team last year not because of the talent on it but because of the injuries. More than likely we are in the playoffs if A-Rod doesnt get hurt for those 25 games and Wang does not go down. To say Johan would of changed all that is not an accurate statement.

How is Atlanta fixed on competing this year?

They traded one good prospect and some throw-ins for Vazquez, who will be with the team in 2010, and signed a guy to a three year deal.

They're trying to create a base for their 2010+ contending teams, while also staying competitive in 2009.

This team is going to be built around McCann, Kotchman, Escobar, Johnson, Francoeur, Heyward, Schafer, and Freeman.

In 2010, the rotation will be Hudson, Jurrjens, Vazquez, Kawakami, and Hanson.

This team is going to be damn good in 2010. They won't ruin that for 2009.

Wow Yanks 09 your all over the board here.

The only reasons the Yanks didn't want to do the trade for Johan was because they thought offering all the prospects were too much along with the money. They thought and still think Hughes and Kennedy will be rotation stalwarts for years to come.

Joba hasn't shown himself to be Dominate at anything at the MLB level except a 1 inning setup man. Not a starter, not a closer, a 1 inning setup man. When he has been stretched out at every level, High School, Minors, Majors to start, he has gotten hurt. That's why he fell so late in the draft because of his injury concerns.

Plus Saying CC is on the way up.... while Johan is on the way down. Go look at the Stat's last season. Johan probably arguably should have won a Cy Young. While CC was great with the brewers, He was 6-8 with a 3.5 ERA for the Indians before he went. You might want to look at that, plus the fact that he's the size of an NFL linemen before you start comparing a gold glove winning SP who last season pitched 234 innings to an under 2.4 era.

And njbraves-

I was defending the Braves and Heyward.

I think you think I'm on the other side of this argument.