It’s been a busy week here at MLBTR, with the news that a certain NL ace (some guy named "Jake Peavy…" heard of him?) is likely to be traded in the coming weeks. Let’s take a look back at the Peavy-mania and other notable stories of the past week:
- October 13, 2008: Peavy-Mania officially begins. Since then it’s been Peavy, Peavy, Peavy, and, oh yeah… more Peavy. The current frontrunners appear to be the Braves, with possible centerpieces including Yunel Escobar, Tommy Hanson, and Jason Heyward. A combination of those would certainly be appealing, but it sounds unlikely that more than one is available. Peavy would like to remain in the NL, and other possibilities have included the Dodgers, Astros, and Cardinals, though none seem to match up nearly as well as Atlanta. Earlier today, Ken Rosenthal analyzed some of Peavy’s suitors, and seems to be leaning towards the Braves as well. Braves fans don’t seem thrilled with the concept of giving up Escobar, Hanson, or Heyward. Personally, Peavy leaving PETCO wouldn’t worry me. He’s posted three dominant seasons away from PETCO, and clearly has the stuff to be dominant in any park. Facing the facts, any team is going to have to give up more than they’re comfortable with to land Peavy, because otherwise Kevin Towers won’t pull the trigger. This isn’t Johan Santana giving his team an ultimatum like we saw last offseason; Towers is in the driver’s seat.
- From one ace to another: The Brewers will at least make an attempt to keep C.C. Sabathia in Milwaukee.
- Scott Boras is working his magic on Manny Ramirez, now stating that Manny deserves an "iconic" contract of six years, and $150MM. I can’t see anyone coughing up a deal for that much money, or that many years for Manny, regardless of his superhuman stint with the Dodgers. But hey, gas is up, and so is Manny. He’s a five-tool player now… just ask him.
- MLBTR has suggested that Rafael Furcal would be a good fit for a lot of teams, and he will… if he ever hits free agency. That’s not necessarily a guarantee though, as we learned that Furcal wants to stay in LA, and the feeling is mutual.
- Lots of talk about the Marlins trading some arb-eligible players, but if you ask Buster Olney, Dan Uggla won’t be one of them. The Marlins are now saying that they won’t have to make any payroll-motivated moves, though it’s possible they’re putting that message out there to re-gain a bit of leverage in trade talks.
- Juan Pierre wants to be a starter again, and is willing to waive his no-trade clause if that will make it happen. Unfortunately for Pierre, he’s got a three years and $28.5MM left on his contract; he’s not going to be easy to move. Any suggestions on a fit for Pierre?
- The Indians exercised Jamey Carroll’s $2.5MM option for 2009.
- Jon Heyman takes a look at the Yankees’ upcoming offseason, while Tom Powers looks at the offseason for Minnesota.
- If that’s not enough offseason news for you, Tim added Offseason Outlooks for the Yankees, Mets, Angels, Brewers, and Cubs.
- Curious to see who’s going to net your team some draft picks? New Elias rankings are out for AL Starters, AL Relievers, and AL 1B/OF/DH.
