Atlanta Braves Thread

There is plenty of room on the Phillies band wagon

 

Not enough good golf courses near Philly for Smoltz.

 

The word is the Braves are pulling back on the Peavy deal. Padres want them to add to the pot. I hope Atlanta gets Peavy but I think Escobar has superstar written all over him.

 

That's because you're a complete idiot, as you have proven with the many moronic things you've said before. Escobar is good, but he's not a 20 homerun hitter, much less 30 or more. You don't do that, hit .350+, or steal bases and you're not even close to a superstar.

 

Peavy has pulled back from the Braves because of their team policy against no-trade clauses

 

The Braves are the ones who pulled back, and they did so because they know San Diego is in a tough bargaining position. The only reason Peavy is being shopped at all is because the Padres' idiot owner is going to lose half his money in a divorce. Unless Peavy lets them trade him to New York, there aren't that many teams who will be in the running, which is why Atlanta is sitting back with a lowball offer.

 

Atlanta Journal Constitution reporting that the Braves are going after free agent AJ Burnett is a big way. I hope they sober up. There is no bigger way to overspend on a guy who underachieves that going after this guy. Great arm, great stuff, complete headcase. Please NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Let the Yankes overspend for him and be stuck with the salary and the headaches.

 

I normally would agree with you...Burnett has a lot of question marks behind him but if you were to name Atlanta's starting five if the season began right now, then it's pretty obvious that the Braves are in desperate need of starting pitching. I think a big factor in the Burnett talks will be Chipper Jones' friendship with Burnett. If you read some of the different blogs you'll see that Chipper has been more than vocal about how the organization needs to make a splash this off-season. Chipper wants to be a lifetime Brave, but with his contract coming up after 09, I get the feeling more and more everyday that Chipper may ask for a trade if there is no real push to put together a good rotation.


IMHO now that the talks are pretty much dead on Peavy...I'm starting to wonder just how serious the Padres really were about trading him? If you read all the different blogs, you'll see pretty clear that Atlanta offered much more in talent than Chicago has. I think Mr. Towers might have just thrown Jake out there just to see how much teams are willing to give up. I think if Atlanta would have thrown Tommy Hanson in the deal, the Padres would have pulled the trigger in the blink of an eye. BTW, If Hanson is as advertised, he'll be in the rotation on opening day.

 

I just don't think Burnett is the answer. For a team like Atlanta that must watch the bottom line to invest in a guy who is more likely than not to go on the DL, I say there is better ways to invest the money. I agree with you on the Peavy thing. If Hanson was part of the deal Peavy would be a Brave right now. I would like to see Derek Lowe come to Atlanta but it looks like he will get bigger money in New York or Boston.

 

Towers doesn't want to trade Peavy because he's an elite pitcher in his prime signed to a reasonable contract, but the owner is making him cut costs because of the guy's divorce. As for talent, that's in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone thinks that Escobar is great, and the Braves have refused to include one of their top prospects. They definitely haven't offered nearly as much as you would expect for a star like Peavy, but I don't blame them since they need more than just Peavy to be legitimate contenders.

I hope not. The most common way to ruin pitching prospects is to bring them up too soon. Let's face it, Atlanta isn't doing anything in '09 regardless, so let Hanson spend another full season in the minors.


Wise One:
You're right about Burnett's injury history, but the guy is a very good pitcher when he's one the mound. The Braves shouldn't sign him for the same reason they don't need to trade for Peavy, because it won't be enough to get them past the Mets or Phillies. Atlanta has to tread water for a year or two until the prospects are ready to contribute.