Sunday, October 5, 2008

Davidoff: Peavy Could Be an Option for Yanks

From Ken Davidoff:
In this baseball winter that will be dominated by free-agent starting pitchers, the most intriguing commodity might be a young, frontline starter who already is signed to a reasonable contract.

Whom would you rather have? CC Sabathia for six years and $150 million? Or Jake Peavy for four years and $63 million?

The Padres, coming off a 63-99 season, will at least explore a Peavy trade, general manager Kevin Towers confirmed to Newsday. ESPN's Buster Olney first reported that possibility this past week.

The Yankees are among the teams with prospects that interest the Padres, although it's not clear whether Peavy would waive his no-trade clause to come to the Bronx.

Last week, he expressed frustration with the team's direction, telling San Diego reporters: "I want to be here, but I want to be here with a chance to win a World Series. If someone says, 'Hey, we're going to rebuild, that's not going to be our top priority,' you certainly would wonder what your other options are."
Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, who lives in the San Diego area and is very friendly with Towers, said: "My guess is, unless somebody knocks their socks off this offseason, I don't expect that Jake will be moved. I would think that starting the middle of next year and into the next offseason, there could be a significant possibility of Jake being moved" because of Peavy's significant raise from 2009 to 2010.

It could be that Peavy, who was born and still lives in Alabama, wouldn't approve a trade to the Yankees. Said Axelrod: "I'm not sure how many teams he would approve, but I have no doubt that he would not be Eddie Whitson [with the Yankees]. He could handle the pressure in New York."
First the positives; he's a 27 year old, Cy Young award winning pitcher. In his career he's 86-62, with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Besides a couple minor injuries this year, he's been pretty durable. He threw 200+ innings in each season from '05-'07, and has had four seasons of throwing at least 194 innings in his seven year career.

A few things scare me about Peavy, though. The main concern is the cost, and it would be hefty. We're talking about Cano, Hughes plus another prospect, and I don't think that kind of trade is worth it for the Yanks. If the Padres weren't going to ask for the moon I'd consider trading for him, but the cost will probably be far too much for it to be a smart move for the Yanks.

Peavy has also benefited from pitcher's parks his entire career. His career ERA at home is 2.77, and on the road it's 3.80 ERA. And after having the numbers even out in his Cy Young 2007 season - 2.51 at home/2.57 on the road - this season he had a 4.28 ERA on the road and a 1.74 ERA at home.

He has had some success in interleague play, though, going 8-8 with a 3.29 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 120.1 IP, so maybe switching leagues won't hurt him as much as some would expect it to.

I also wouldn't call Peavy a "big game pitcher." In two playoff starts he's 0-2 with a 12.10 ERA, and that doesn't include the one game playoff against the Rockies last year when he allowed six runs and ten hits in 6.1 IP.

Then there's the issue of handling the bright lights and media scrutiny of New York, which is always a concern with players.

It's another tough call the Yankees have in an off-season that will be fool of tough calls.

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...

No sir I don't like it. Stay away from Peavy, he's not ready for prime time.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you Anonymous. I'd stay away from Peavy, just don't feel confident about him, plus he's going to cost a lot.

Anonymous said...

he's very good, but i think i'd pass if they ask for both hughes and cano. please just sign cc, overpay.

Brian Danuff said...

Marc what are you talking about! Peavy will only cost around $60 million. That's much better than CC's $120 million.

Anonymous said...

Sabathia six years $150M? If someone offers that much for six years, the Yankees should pass on that. Spend the money on Tex, Moose, and explore other options. Power pitchers who are overweight and in questionable shape aren't very likely to hold up into their mid-30s, especially coming off his highest inning total in his career as well as coming to the tough AL East.

Anonymous said...

I'm talking about cost in players not money. The Padres are going to ask for at least Hughes + Cano.

Mike B. said...

It will be an interesting off-season for sure. I'm hoping we get a few good front-line players even if we have to sacrifice a prospect or two. I'm not sure about Peavy for many of the reasons stated above (plus his name sounds just like the name of a lousy guitar amplifer....).

Mike