Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Padres are Dead in the Water

The Cubs are done playing the Padres' Peavy games:

If there were any lingering questions about whether the Cubs had pulled back from pursuing San Diego ace Jake Peavy in a trade, manager Lou Piniella answered them this week.

The Chicago Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmyer asked Piniella at an event in Chicago on Sunday whether the Cubs were still pursuing starting pitching in the wake of their four-year contract extension with free agent right-hander Ryan Dempster.

"No," Piniella was quoted as saying in Tuesday's Sun-Times. "Starting we don't need. We're set. We've got six good starters, and they're all experienced. Getting Dempster back was the key. We're in good shape with our starting pitching. Bullpen-wise, [we're looking for] possibly one more experienced pitcher. We've got a lot of young kids out there."
And with both the Cubs and Braves out of the picture, the Padres are experiencing that feeling you get when everything is going wrong at once and all you can do is stand there, dumbstruck and frozen:

The lack of progress in a deal involving pitcher Jake Peavy has had a significant effect on the Padres' ability to address their other roster needs this offseason . . . not knowing if the team can or will move Peavy and his $11 million contract for 2009 has all but left Towers in a standby mode until the future of the 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner is decided.

"That's pretty much it," Towers said. "It's certainly a large sum of money we would be moving. Once that's decided, we will have a better idea of what holes we would be plugging."
I realize that the owner's big divorce settlement has thrown a wrench into whatever the plans the Padres had going into this offseason, but did Kevin Towers really not have any sort of a contingency set up in the event that couldn't happen? Was it not always a possibility -- and indeed, was it not arguably preferable -- to wait until the trading deadline next season and send Peavy off to a more desperate suitor?

10 comments:

Alex Brissette said...

Can the Braves come back with a lower offer now and snatch Peavy up? I've been hearing talks between the Braves and the Pads aren't entirely dead.

Unknown said...

It really looks like Towers has screwed up here, but if I were him I'd be extremely annoyed with all that Peavy and his agent have done to undermine the talks, namely so publicly and repeatedly talking about which teams Peavy will and will not go to, and on what terms.

Peavy and his agent are under no obligation to keep their mouths shut, but good lord -- do they have to be out there basically narrowing it down to two suitors, one of whom (the Cubs) barely has the pieces to get it done in the first place?

Anonymous said...

They're going to end up shipping Peavy to the Yankees for a couple of C prospects, because the Yankees will prove to be the only team willing to take Peavy's entire contract.

Jorge Says No! said...

This is a terrible time for the Padres to move Peavy. With all the quality free agents out there coupled with Peavy's no trade clause, this will be a tough deal for Towers to make. If they do move him, it will be for less than they hoped for.

Jason @ IIATMS said...

Justin,

I've been barking that same thing for ages. At the end of the day, the Yanks will come 'a calling and make a deal that has others scratching their heads. Cashman will be lauded as a genius.

It'll be for something weak like Melky, Igawa and Kennedy...

Craig Calcaterra said...

I agree that their power is low right now. In addition to the other options, teams always feel better about their chances than they do in June when they're desperate. If I were the Padres I would have tried to wait until next summer in the first instance.

Of course, players hate to be traded in the middle of a season, so if you think Peavy and his people are being obstructionist now, imagine what it would be like at the deadline.

Unknown said...

The Braves have already shown they're willing to take Peavy's contract off of the Padres' hands and give up some decent value. They backed out because the asking price was too high -- I really doubt the Braves would say no if the Padres came crawling back. I'm not sure why the Yankees would be the only team willing to take his contract.

Anonymous said...

Hmm...I haven't seen any speculation that the Cards might now be in the hunt. Maybe the Pads have to reduce his value even more before Peavy enters their bargain radar. ??

vendor71 said...

Not only the Cards, but wouldn't this move the Astros back into the picture too?

Ron Rollins said...

I still say he doesn't go anywhere. The NL West is still weak and up for grabs. The Padres aren't that far away from being competitive.

They won't get the prospects or front-line players they want, so they'll sit and wait until the trading deadline. If they aren't competitive, he'll go.