BigbadB

This is Hendry using the greatest leverage tool he has. To walk away when the Padres are asking for the moon. Towers will now to to Peavy, who will tell Towers he will only accept a trade to the Cubs. Towers will come back to Hendry before the end of the day with his tail between his legs and Hendry will accept the deal on his terms, not Towers. Start the Peavy to the Cubs trade countdown now......

This is nothing new. You have a bunch of people who would like nothing more than to be here and share in the excitement of an announcement at the moment it happens. The longer it takes, the longer people are here killing time waiting for something to happen and the more frustrating it gets. It's like having a guy at 3rd base with no one out in a tie game in the 9th inning. Later in the inning, the runner is still on 3rd base and there are two outs and 2 strikes after a couple of pitching changes.

A few pages back (probably several now), I pointed out that the only Padres leverage is Peavy himself, and that any and all other leverage belongs to Hendry and he's holding his ground, which he should.

Relax. The Cubs have the leverage here and it looks like they're using it as they should. Jesus. Thank you! I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought Hendry is actually playing it smart. Oh geez.

If you are including me in this criticism, maybe you should thumb back a few pages and note that have clearly stated that Hendry is playing this the way he should be.

If they got Barmes, wouldn't it be easier to put him at short and find a second baseman? It's only speculation that the Padres could get those guys for Marquis. Colorado probably isn't sitting around waiting on Towers. Barmes could be gone by the time this Peavy stuff gets sorted out. Lots of teams are looking for SS help. I missed the part about Hendry loosing on Roberts last year. You know that's an incredibly unfair and inaccurate statement BBB. That was all about Angelos nixing it at the last minute because he waaaay overvalues Roberts, and wouldn't approve of a trade that did anything less than rape us. The only thing that Hendry lost was alot of time and effort that went into coming to an agreement with MacPhail that got trumped. He didn't get Roberts because he haggled too long, he didn't get him because there wasn't a fair deal to be made that Angelos would approve. I think you've misinterpreted what I was trying to convey. I don't blame Hendry for not getting Roberts. My point was he wasted the entire offseason going after a guy he really wanted, and when all was said and done, he didn't get his man. This offseason has the potential for the same thing to happen. Hendry has back up plans in place if a Peavy deal doesn't go down. It just has to be frustrating for Hendry to spend all that time haggling a deal and then nothing comes from it. I'm certainly not saying Hendry should bend. And I don't blame Hendry for not getting Roberts. In fact, I'd rather Hendry detour whenever MacPhail starts in his general direction. I'm no fan of any of the Baltimore/Cubs dealings.

This probably won't materialize until a decision is made on Peavy. You could be right, but the Cubs sure seem to be singing the opposite tune this week (RF then Peavy). With Marquis now potentiall being a part of the Peavy deal, Hendry needs to know how much of his contract he will have to eat to know how much he can spend on a RF AND Peavy.

If they got Barmes, wouldn't it be easier to put him at short and find a second baseman? It's only speculation that the Padres could get those guys for Marquis. Colorado probably isn't sitting around waiting on Towers. Barmes could be gone by the time this Peavy stuff gets sorted out. Lots of teams are looking for SS help.

Probably just about the last team we would have wanted to take him. Pittsburgh sure does love the lefties.

Who says he can't? He may be willing and able to do just that if he has to in order to do the deal, but it's probably not his most preferred course of action. Everyone is acting like Hendry should have made the deal days ago because they think time is running out. He probably has at least another week or so before Towers will really disengage. He may have all offseason for all we know. Hendry knows what kind of timeline he's working with. There's no reason for him to take a less favorable course of action if he's not pushing a deadline yet that would force his hand. He's got time and he's in the drivers seat. Does everyone here really want him to not keep plugging away at this and not see if he can get a better deal just solely for the purpose of ending the drama? If he did that, he wouldn't be doing his job. I don't think Hendry has the time that you are suggesting. If Philly and Minnesota get tired of waiting and find other options, Hendry loses the trade resources necessary to facillitate a deal for Peavy. How long should all of these teams remain in a holding pattern?

This probably won't materialize until a decision is made on Peavy.

Who is playing 2nd when that happens? Depends on who else is on the roster. Ahh. It's probably a safe bet that there will be another middle infielder on the roster. But, the pickings are getting slim.

Who is playing 2nd when that happens?

If that's true, then that's a good question. If he's relying on getting 10/5 before going somewhere, it doesn't make sense because he'd lose those 10/5 rights once he was moved, and he'd need a contractually awarded NTC (which he already has). Maybe there's another scenario that I'm not thinking of... He just doesn't want to leave SD. But, if he were to be traded at this point, he could require a 1 or 2 year extension with NTC rights written in to the extension.

The strangest part of this whole trade debacle, IMO, is that they have wasted the entire winter meetings haggling over players. Several teams seem to be in a holding pattern on this, which isn't really fair to any of them. That also includes Peavy. Hendry played this game last year with Roberts, and lost. Towers has a whole lost more work to do once this trade gets finalized (if it gets finalized). That team is an absolute mess. They need a 2b, a SS, a catcher and quite possibly a CF. If I had to guess, Towers will spin Marquis and a prospect to Colorado for Taveras and maybe even Barmes. I have no idea where they expect to get a SS on the cheap.

Olney is only repeating what's been said since the offseason began. The Padres want their payroll to be cut down to 40m, if not lower. Giles and Peavy alone make up half of that at 20m. Giles has stated that he won't waive his NTC. That pretty much forces San Diego to trade Peavy. Towers' only job this offseason is to meet ownerships request. His job probably depends on doing exactly that. Towers is probably playing the leverage game to the full extent that he can with Hendry, but Hendry isn't stupid. One question that begs to be asked is why they picked up the option on Giles? They didn't have to do that, and considering that they're dealing Peavy in a lose-lose situation from a negotiation standpoint, it really seems like it was an incredibly stupid thing to do, unless they have a gentlemans agreement that Giles will allow them to trade him to at least a limited number of teams despite his NTC in exchange for picking up the option, which he may not have gotten as much money on the FA market had they declined it. This is the part I really don't understand. But, Towers and Alderson haven't exactly performed like geniuses in any of their dealings this offseason. I honestly thought they would not offer to pick up Giles' option. They must have felt that he would be willing to be traded once the fire sale began. They thought wrong.

Hendry's holding his ground, as he should. The Cubs are the only team Towers is talking to. The Cubs have back up plans in place should Towers play hardball. The Cubs don't NEED another SP. Their need is a LH RF. Hendry is offering fair value for Peavy for helping Towers save his job. Towers will have serious mud on his face with ownership if he wasted the entire GM meetings trying to work 1 single deal and he doesn't get it done.

It might've just been speculation, but I thought I heard that they'd be able to keep him til the deadline since they moved Greene, though they still have to trade him at some point this year. Peavy has a full no trade clause. Moving him at the deadline would likely be much more difficult than moving him now. Peavy doesn't have to approve a trade to anyone. Towers would be doing himself a favor and taking what he can get for him now, rather than risking that he can't move him at all at the deadline. I understand that, I was just talking from a financial standpoint. If someone floated that rumor out there, it was probably Padres brass, with a lame attempt to gain some leverage. The Padres have very little leverage. In fact, their only leverage is they currently own the rights to Peavy. That's it.

It might've just been speculation, but I thought I heard that they'd be able to keep him til the deadline since they moved Greene, though they still have to trade him at some point this year. Peavy has a full no trade clause. Moving him at the deadline would likely be much more difficult than moving him now. Peavy doesn't have to approve a trade to anyone. Towers would be doing himself a favor and taking what he can get for him now, rather than risking that he can't move him at all at the deadline.

Olney is only repeating what's been said since the offseason began. The Padres want their payroll to be cut down to 40m, if not lower. Giles and Peavy alone make up half of that at 20m. Giles has stated that he won't waive his NTC. That pretty much forces San Diego to trade Peavy. Towers' only job this offseason is to meet ownerships request. His job probably depends on doing exactly that. Towers is probably playing the leverage game to the full extent that he can with Hendry, but Hendry isn't stupid.

He certainly didn't portray Hendry as the guy we are familiar with. While I'm sure the DeRosa interest is real, I'm sure Hendry isn't telling Towers to back off on his demands. The latest demands are more than fair, as is Peavy's small market contract extension. Hendry just got everyone to finally shut up about the key elements of the deal that will likely go down late tomorrow or soon after.

Yep. That's him.

Yeah, that's what I said BBB. It seems like a big cost for DeRo. To be fair, it's likely that DeRo is a type A after this season, so he'd possibly be worth 2 high draft picks. Have you seen how the Cubs make draft picks. I'll take two bonafide prospects from the Phillies over the future draft picks all day long. Oh, I absolutely agree. But one cheap year from a player like DeRosa who fits the Phils needs, plus two high draft picks after next season might very well be worth Donald and Carrasco. I doubt it, and would think it'd be more like DeRosa + Colvin for Donald + Happ, but it's not inconceivable somebody in a position of power really likes or is really down on certain players. What's the name of that kid the Padres drafted about 3 years ago that has a name similar to Carlos Carrasco (double letters and same letter first and last name). He just had surgery awhile back. That'll get confusing when the two make it to the bigs together.

Yeah, that's what I said BBB. It seems like a big cost for DeRo. To be fair, it's likely that DeRo is a type A after this season, so he'd possibly be worth 2 high draft picks. Have you seen how the Cubs make draft picks. I'll take two bonafide prospects from the Phillies over the future draft picks all day long.

Jason Donald and Carlos Carrasco for Mark DeRosa? I know it's just a rumor at this point, but WOW! Carrasco is the Phillies top prospect. And can we keep Donald and send them Theriot instead?