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Friday, October 24, 2008
Which Braves prospects are untouchable?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Philadelphia — I’m in chilly Philly and Braves officials are not. But neither are officials from most other teams, save for the participating Phillies and Rays.
Gone is the day when all major league teams sent all their top officials to the World Series to mingle and start talking about potential trades and free agents.
In fact, I’m not aware of any team that sent its brass to this World Series. With the general managers meetings coming up next week in Dana Point, Calif., earlier than those meetings were held in past years, most teams decided to prepare for that instead of coming to the World Series.
Which is my long way toward getting to the fact that I talked to Braves GM Frank Wren on the phone this morning, me in my Philly hotel room, him not. (I’m out at the ballpark now, about to try to find Willy Aybar when they open the Tampa Bay clubhouse, see if he’ll talk to me for a story.)
As you can imagine, the subject of Jake Peavy came up in my conversation with Wren.
Specifically we talked about the latest development, wherein Wren was asked this week about speculation that he might trade multiple top prospects and either Yunel Escobar or Kelly Johnson for Peavy, the San Diego ace who’s suddenly the best available pitcher this winter not named CC (suddenly, meaning when the season ended nobody suspected the Padres would be shopping Peavy, who has four years and $59 million left on a very reasonable (relatively speaking, of course) contract, plus a fifth-year option at $22 mill with a $4 mill buyout).
Anyway, most of the speculation had come from a couple of media outlets quoting anonymous officials from teams other than the involved Padres or Braves. And Wren pointed out that most of the speculation was flat-out wrong. I asked him about all that this morning, trying to get a little more out of him. I got a little. But not much.
I asked if anything had changed since the day after the regular season ended, when Wren said that he had no intention of trading the top-tier prospects from a group he considers to be the next wave of talent that will infuse the Braves over the next three seasons.
No, he said. Nothing had changed, despite the fact that Peavy became available since then. Wren hasn’t and wouldn’t acknowledge this morning that the Braves are pursuing Peavy, but they are.
They just aren’t doing so with the top-layer prospects that some have suggested they are offering, including top pitching prospect Tommy Hanson and five-tool outfielder Jason Heyward.
“What I told you that day still holds,” Wren said, referring to his comments after the season ended, about not trading his top prospects. “There are certain guys we’re not going to move in any deal, because we think they are part of this next wave. And there’s other guys … we would be open to moving.”
Hanson and Heyward, along with 17-year-old pitcher Julio Teheran, are known to be on the Braves’ off-limits list. It’s believed that first baseman Freddie Freeman and center fielders Jordan Schafer and Gorkys Hernandez have close to that same “untouchable” status.
But Wren wouldn’t specifically say who’s on that list. He did mention that the Braves are fortunate to have enough quality depth in their system to still pursue trades that could fill one or more of their three primary offseason objectives: Acquire two proven starting pitchers and a power-hitting outfielder.
It’s not known how many could be available for trade, but certainly there are several available and attractive to other teams from a group that includes the likes of right-handed pitchers Charlie Morton and Kris Medlen (either could probably be plugged into the San Diego rotation, something Towers has said he’s looking for in any deal for Peavy), Stephen Marek and James Parr; lefties Cole Rohrbough, Jeff Locke and Scott Diamond; catcher Tyler Flowers; and infielders Brandon Hicks, Travis Jones and Eric Campbell.
Again, Wren wouldn’t say how many or give any names — understandable considering he doesn’t want Braves prospects trying to figure out who among them is untouchable, and doesn’t want to show his hand prematurely to other teams.
“There’s a group of players we’re not going to move under any circumstances,” Wren said. “They are a core group of players we’re just not going to move.
“Fortunately for us, we’ve got a lot of depth. Outside of our core, we’ve got a lot of depth to make moves. We can make significant moves without touching that core.”
Once this World Series is over, things could start getting interesting fairly quickly, folks.
If not Peavy…. We know how Chipper Jones feels about A.J. Burnett, after his quotes here last week about the potential Toronto free agent. Jones loves Burnett’s swagger and stuff and the fact he’s a strikeout pitcher and “bulldog” who goes to the mound looking to throw a complete-game shutout, like Peavy does.
So what would it cost to sign Burnett, who’s expected to opt out of the final two $12 mill option years of his contract and become a free agent next week? I’m told that the Blue Jays are going to make him a take-it-or-leave-it offer of about four years and $54 million, basically two $15 mill years on top of the $12 mill option years.
That would virtually assure he’ll opt for the “leave it” rather than “take it” and he’ll hit the open market. It’ll be interesting to see where the bidding goes, but I’d bet he’ll get at least a four-year offer worth $60-64 million, and perhaps significantly more.
Not quite sure if the Braves as an organization like him as much as Chipper does, but I do know Wren has known A.J. since the pitcher was drafted by the Marlins when Wren was Florida’s asst. GM.
This just in … Yankees to spend big bucks…. But you already knew that.
I only bring it up because I’m smiling as I stare at the back page of today’s NY Daily News (bought it by mistake, thought I was buying Philly Daily News). It’s a full-page cartoon drawing of Hank Steinbrenner holding a piggy bank with the Yankees’ logo on it. He has a crazed smile, a cig hanging out of his mouth and a hammer in his hand (you know, to break the bank).
The headline reads, “Hanky Banky” and the subhead says, “Expect Baby Boss to spend like a piggy in offseason.”
Gotta love the tabs.
McMurtry coming to Atlanta: The Man is coming to Atlanta, to the little Red Light Cafe in midtown. James McMurtry live will change your life (or at least make it a lot better for a couple hours).
”RACHEL’S SONG” by James McMurtry
Must be a cold front coming
Cause I saw the eastbound C&O
And the coal cars were dusted with a half inch of snow
And that boy’ll drive me crazy
Don’t know what I’ll do with him
School will be out tomorrow if that cold front moves in
Calling out
To the dying daylight
The shadows of the mountains
Bringing on the night
The old folks like to whisper
He favors your side in his face
When he gets a little older
He’s going to lead a merry chase
When I’m all alone it’s all right
It isn’t going to wound my pride
If anyone can claim they’re all right
So can I
I wrecked the El Camino
Would have been DWI
So I just walked off and left it
Laying on its side
The troopers found it in the morning
And they said it’s purely luck I wasn’t killed
I probably ought to quit my drinking
But I don’t believe I will
When I’m all alone it’s all right
It isn’t going to wound my pride
If anyone can claim they’re all right
So can I
He used to ask about you
About a million times a day
I got so tired of trying to answer
I just turned my head away
Now he don’t pay me much attention
He’s not asking anymore
I guess he’d probably know you
If you walked back in the door
Calling out to the empty night
Watching as the snowflakes
Come dancing round the light
Dancing up against the window
It’s like they’re peeking through the glass
And they hover for a moment
And then they fall on past
Calling out
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