Bloody Murder

That’s why he signed the extension. He’s obviously comfortable there, and figures that if he’s going to be on a sucky team, he’d rather that sucky team be in San Diego.

but i’m really starting to get turned off on the Peavy thing. I’ve been a big proponent so far, but he and his agents meddling AND the inclusion of Escobar is just too much for me. I say toss out KJ, Morton/Reyes, Schafer and one more lower level prospect and say take it or leave it. Then walk away when Towers mentions the Cubs again.

Let me first say that, while I am truly excited about the possibility of acquiring Jake Peavy from the Padres, I am hesitant to deal Yunel Escobar to get him, much like everyone else around here has stated, to some degree. But that’s exactly what the rumors are suggesting might happen, so let’s start from there.

Ok, assuming the Braves complete a trade for Peavy, and Escobar is included in it, we will have an obvious, glaring hole at shortstop, which is what this fuss is all about. We also are aware that there is a spot open in left field, where everyone is assuming Atlanta will find a “power” bat to hit behind Chipper in the clean up spot. However, as has been discussed around here ad nauseam, nobody is really thrilled with the free agent options for LF (ie. Burrell, Dunn, Ibanez et al), and trading for one doesn’t seem likely (ie. Holliday, Ludwick).

So here’s an idea, which I’m not sure how I feel about yet, and was wondering what the rest of ya’ll thought of: what about trading for Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada?

Now, I haven’t read or heard about any rumors involving Tejada, and I’m not really sure the Astros are even interested in trading him, but they have a ton of money committed to a few players next season and their minor league system is fairly weak in general, so a trade might benefit them.

I won’t even speculate on what the Braves would offer in return, I just wanted to put my idea in writing. Miggy isn’t going to lead all shortstops in home runs, but he does possess some power. He can bat fourth in the order, and we can target a different set of players for LF (ie. a Juan Rivera reclamation project, a current roster player such as Blanco or Anderson, or my preference would be Xavier Nady since the Yankees have an excess of OFs). His defense isn’t anything to write hope about, but its not terrible either. Granted, I don’t have any stats to support this, and I know RainDelay, 17843, or even gondeee will probably crucify me for that, but it’s just the impression I get that seems to be the general consensus around baseball. Tejada only has one year left on his contract, so there wouldn’t be any long term commitment for Atlanta to absorb. Other free agent shortstops have been mentioned, most notably former Braves Rafael Furcal and Edgar Renteria, but it seems like there’s a mutual interest in Furcal returning to the Dodgers, and we would have some competition in trying to sign Renteria. Some might argue that we should use our in-house option and play Brent Lillibridge, but it doesn’t seem he has progressed to being a MLB-caliber shortstop we thought he might become. Other potential trade options at short won’t thrill anyone either; the only one’s I can think that will be FAs in 2010 besides Tejada are Bobby Crosby, Jack Wilson, and Khalil Greene, and I doubt anyone wants a part of that trio.

So go ahead, let me have it. Thoughts? Comments? Arguments? Insults?

Offer what we feel we can give and nothing more. Complaining about rumored packages is just silly. And yes, we get that you’re against a trade for Peavy. If/When we acquire him, I expect you to complain about what we gave up. I trust Wren, as he has yet to do anything to cripple our franchise; on the whole, he’s been a net positive as our GM and I will trust him until that changes.