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Heyman On Peavy, Pedro, Blalock

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [May 22, 2009 at 12:42pm CST]

Jon Heyman of SI.com has a number of rumors in his latest column:

He believes the Cubs and Brewers have the best shot at acquiring Jake Peavy, because of the pitcher's preference for the National League and his desire to play in "middle America." Heyman believes Peavy would accept a deal to either team, but there are never guarantees with a no-trade clause.
The Yankees and Indians both say they cannot add payroll.
One AL executive believes Pedro Martinez would sign for $3MM plus incentives at this point.
The Rangers would listen to offers for Hank Blalock and ask for relief help in return.

Comments

"the pitcher's preference for the National League and his desire to play in "middle America."

Does Heyman mean the Midwest? (he is such an idiot..)

"The Rangers would listen to offers for Hank Blalock and ask for relief help in return."

I'm not sure that Blalock has the plate discipline to really be that appealing. He's obviously still got his old pop, but his walk rate is really bad (3.5%) and his line drive rate is wayy down from its previous levels.

All those home runs are because he's hitting the ball in the air more than ever, and those flyballs are turning into home runs at a rate that isn't sustainable.

I'm not really sure if Blalock has any value at this point.

Posted by: scribbletone | May 22, 2009 at 12:59 PM

lol, nonsense - Yankees can always add payroll.

Posted by: B3NG4L | May 22, 2009 at 01:08 PM

"Does Heyman mean the Midwest? (he is such an idiot..)"

No, he means middle America. Peavy will demand a trade to Kansas City within a week, you heard it here first. Who wouldn't want to play in Kansas City?

I'm not sure if the Cubs or Brewers have the upper level pitching ammo to give the Padres what they want for Peavy.

Posted by: stereotypicalblogcommenter | May 22, 2009 at 01:11 PM

scribbletone is exactly right. What value would a platoon guy (should only play vs RHP and at the Ballpark) with an OBP of .270 have ?

Certainly zip. Daniels should have moved him when he had at least some value instead of blowing 6 mil on him.

Posted by: kinsler5 | May 22, 2009 at 01:35 PM

Blalock and Garrett Aktins are both in the same boat. Their GM's totally screwed up by not moving them earlier.

Neither offers anything defensively, they both play in hitters parks, and both are owed more money than they are worth at this point.

Last year either player would have fetched talent + salary relief. Now they can only be sold off for partial salary relief.

Posted by: bjsguess | May 22, 2009 at 01:39 PM

It's also nice of Pedro to drop his demands from $5m to $3m+incentives. Considering we are a quarter of the way through the season I'm glad to hear he isn't asking for MORE money than he was a month ago.

Posted by: bjsguess | May 22, 2009 at 01:40 PM

those California taxes are a bitch. I don't blame Peavy for wanting out of the Moldin' State.

Posted by: nostocksjustbonds | May 22, 2009 at 01:49 PM

"those California taxes are a bitch. I don't blame Peavy for wanting out of the Moldin' State."

Exactly the mentality that has gotten us into this mess.

Anyway, the whole "middle America" thing makes no sense given that Peavy has expressed his ultimate preference to be remaining in San Diego or Los Angeles and the fact that the only AL team he seems to have even remotely considered is the Angels. He would probably be ok with a return to the south and Atlanta, but that is about it other than the Cubs and the L.A. teams.

Posted by: AA | May 22, 2009 at 02:18 PM

Mike Francesa of WFAN (660 AM in New York) reports the Phillies and Padres are discussing a deal for Padres pitcher Jake Peavy.

Posted by: Justin | May 22, 2009 at 02:32 PM

justin - dont play with my emotions like that.

Posted by: mr utley | May 22, 2009 at 02:52 PM

What would we have to add to Randy Wells, Jake Fox and Sean Marshall for Peavey? Neal Cotts (just kidding).

Posted by: Milburn26 | May 22, 2009 at 02:58 PM

"What would we have to add to Randy Wells, Jake Fox and Sean Marshall for Peavey?"

A lot. With that motley group of dudes, at least Carlos Marmol or whatever pitcher you could swap Josh Vitters for.

Posted by: stereotypicalblogcommenter | May 22, 2009 at 04:16 PM

Im just waiting for The Pads to see no one wants an 85M commiment and ask for a realistic deal for Peavy, not 4 guys, 3 on the 25 man roster and a top prospect also

Posted by: lakersdodgersyankees4life | May 22, 2009 at 04:20 PM

First Pedro said 7MM firm, then 5MM firm and now 3MM? Hell, just wait another month and scoop him at league minimum.

I hope Peavy signs with the Brewers and in my opinion the Brewers have a lot more to offer in regard to young prospects than Chicago does.

Hank Blalock could make sense for a lot of teams if Texas is willing to eat some salary, if not, I dont think theyll get many takers.

Posted by: xethicx | May 22, 2009 at 04:38 PM

"I'm not sure if the Cubs or Brewers have the upper level pitching ammo to give the Padres what they want for Peavy."

Jeremy Jeffress is roughly analogous to Aaron Poreda as a future late-inning reliever, and Clayton Richard doesn't seem like anything more than a middle reliever--Tim Dillard, maybe? I think the Brewers can compete with that package.

Posted by: battlekow | May 22, 2009 at 05:09 PM

Don't know where you get your info, but both Richard and Poreda are starters, even though Poreda could possibly end up a closer.

But the reason the Sox are giving Poreda time in AA to work on his secondary pitches, is because he'll need them to start. He could be in the Sox bullpen now with his fastball.

Posted by: Cold Golden Falstaff | May 22, 2009 at 09:28 PM

Could Hank Blalock and the Mets be a match? Someone who's value has gone down and Texas would love to get rid of him, probably for not much and especially if they don't eat that contract the Mets wouldn't have to give up anything at all... He could be a Temporary fix while Delgado is out and maybe even some Left Field?

Posted by: Wolverine | May 23, 2009 at 12:51 AM

The rangers will probably ask for every teams top pitching prospect for Blalock as that is their M.O.!

Posted by: RED SOX DYNASTY! | May 23, 2009 at 03:59 PM

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Heyman On Peavy, Pedro, Blalock

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