Jones says Peavy ‘perfect fit’ for Atlanta

New weight-room equipment arrived at Chipper Jones’ suburban Atlanta home Tuesday just as the third baseman discussed a potential Braves strengthening development of a different kind.

Jones has read all reports of his team’s trade interest in San Diego Padres pitching ace Jake Peavy, and hopes Braves general manager Frank Wren can finalize a deal for the 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner.

“If his arm is sound, this guy’s one of the best in the game,” Jones said of Peavy, a 27-year-old Alabama native who had ERAs of 2.88 or lower in four of the past five seasons, including three consecutive seasons or 200 or more innings before missing a month in 2008 with a strained elbow.

The Padres’ career strikeouts leader is signed to a relatively reasonable contract worth $59 million over the next four seasons, plus a $22 million option in 2013 or $4 million buyout.

Peavy was raised in Semmes, Ala., outside Mobile, and has a home there and a hunting and fishing cabin on the Alabama river near Camden.

“He’s still got his peak years ahead of him, and we’d have him four or five years,” Jones said. “That’s a bonus. He’s got four years to win here, four years to see how nice it is to play so close to home, four years for our fans to make an impression on him that this is a nice place to be, and hopefully we’d be able to keep him past four years.

“Getting that piece of the [offseason] puzzle taken care of would be a tremendous feather in our cap.”

Wren has stated the team’s priorities: Get two proven starters and a power-hitting outfielder. He said the Braves would use assets however necessary to fill those needs through trades or free agency.

The Braves aren’t expected to bid for top free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia, who could land at least a $20-million-a-year long-term contract, or injury-prone Milwaukee free agent Ben Sheets.

Among other pitchers available, Peavy is the most accomplished and would have a lower salary than comparable free agents.

The Padres signed him to a long-term contract last winter, before the team bottomed out with 99 losses. General manager Kevin Towers set a new course for restocking the minor league system and getting younger talent on the roster.

Trading Peavy, an unthinkable prospect a few months ago, now seems more than likely. He’s the biggest, most sought-after trade chip.

It won’t be simple. The Padres need a bounty in return to avoid losing all faith of their upset fans, and Peavy has a full no-trade clause and has indicated a strong desire to stay in the NL.

He told his agent, Barry Axelrod, that he preferred Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis, the Los Angeles Dodgers, or the Chicago Cubs.

Peavy would demand that his no-trade clause, which becomes a partial no-trade clause after 2009, be rewritten to make it full for the entire contract. The Braves didn’t give no-trade clauses under previous GM John Schuerholz, but Wren hasn’t stated such a position.

Wren said three weeks ago that he didn’t plan to trade the top prospects he called the “next wave” of Braves talent, including five-tool outfielder Jason Heyward, pitchers Tommy Hanson and Julio Teheran, first baseman Freddie Freeman and center fielders Jordan Schafer and Gorkys Hernandez.

However, that was before the Peavy situation.

To get a deal done, it seems likely the Braves would have to part with at least two pitching prospects in a package that might also require Schafer or perhaps promising shortstop Yunel Escobar or second baseman Kelly Johnson.

The Padres want a young pitcher who can step into their rotation right away, and the Braves could offer rookie Charlie Morton. But the Padres might demand Hanson, who led all full-season minor leaguers with a 2.41 ERA and 163 strikeouts and threw a no-hitter at Class AA Mississippi.

Some Braves fans have expressed concern about the Braves potentially trading away multiple prospects in another deal so soon after sending five prospects to Texas in 2007 for first baseman Mark Teixeira, dealt to the Los Angeles Angels a year later. Jones noted the difference in scenarios.

“I don’t think the organization can survive too many more Teixeira trades,” Jones said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to get a guy like Tex and have him produce the way he did. But what you give up for such a short-term fix can set your minor league organization back quite a bit. And it did. We don’t have a lot of prospects at the higher levels. We have a ton at the lower levels.

“You want to be very careful you don’t stunt the growth of your minor league system by trading away all the good ones for a short-term fix. Now this Peavy thing, it’s not a short-term fix. Getting a guy in his prime for four or five years, at or below market value …

“There’s no doubt [the Braves need an ace]. If he was in the last year of his contract coming up, this would be the same scenario [as Teixeira]. But this is a lot different. You’re looking at a guy who’d be your opening-day starter for the next year four years.

“He’s one of those guys you don’t particularly like facing. And he’s a good guy, he’d fit right in with the guys [on the Braves]. He’s a golfer, a hunter, from the country, just like us. I think Atlanta would be a perfect fit for him.”

Jones said he’s excited about some of possible pitching acquisitions the Braves could make, specifically citing Peavy and potential Toronto free agent A.J. Burnett.

“There’s some names out there that are very appealing to me,” Jones said. “I like a guy like A.J. Burnett. I’ve always dreaded facing that guy. A.J. is a bulldog. Peavy’s a bulldog. Those guys, they take the mound, they want to stick it to you, and they’re competitors, not afraid to show emotions, stuff like that. I think that’s great. They’re not showing anybody up, they just want to win.

“I think that, at times, is something we’ve been missing, that guy who’s going to walk out on the mound, and when he walks on the mound, he’s looking to throw a complete-game shutout. That kind of competitive spirit would be good for this clubhouse and this team. And they’re both strikeout pitchers. We all know that’s what wins in the postseason. You get two power arms like that, you’ve got a formula for not just being built for 162 games, but for a short series.”