The San Diego Padres have put 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy on the market, looking to move their ace right-hander in an effort to speed up a rebuilding process. Peavy will turn 28 years old next season and is signed through 2012, with a club option for the 2013 season.
The Cleveland Indians need starting pitching. It says here that they probably can’t do better than to make an offer for Peavy, a proven major league ace who will include cost certainty for the foreseeable future. The Tribe also can put together a good package of players and prospects, which should interest San Diego.
This, of course, assumes the Indians front office gets over its fear of trading prospects that have never done anything in the major leagues for someone who will be here a minimum of four years. This is not to say a farm system isn’t important, in fact, it most certainly is for a smaller market team. The Tribe needs to keep developing low cost players so they have a shot at keeping their better players when free agency arrives.
In putting together a package for Peavy, you have to notice that the only catcher on the San Diego roster is young Nick Hundley, who has a total of 198 big league at bats. That means they would have to be interested in Kelly Shoppach. Shoppach is the Indians primo trading chip and cashing him in for a pitcher like Jake Peavy seems like a perfect fit.
The Padres will also want young prospect pitchers, which means the Indians will have to part with either David Huff or Adam Miller. Miller has had all kinds of injury problems, so the Pads will probably prefer Huff. Even though it appears Huff has a higher ceiling than the other southpaws Cleveland has (Jeremy Sowers, Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis, Zach Jackson), he still has yet to pitch above the Class AAA level. And, of course, Peavy is signed for at least four more seasons. It’s not as though the righty is a one and done guy.
San Diego will want one more premium prospect, so the Tribe can dip down into the lower levels of the farm system for a hurler like Hector Rondon or Kelvin De La Cruz. Rondon had a good year at Kinston, and pitched in the Futures Game on All Star weekend. De La Cruz has been described as a left-handed Fausto Carmona.
The Indians can also throw in an outfielder such as Ben Francisco or Franklin Gutierrez. Francisco has the better bat, but the Padres need a guy to patrol the spacious centerfield in Petco Park, and Gutierrez is an elite defender. They could also throw in another lower level prospect to sweeten the pot.
This is not to advocate gutting the Indians’ farm system. However, when an elite player who is signed for at least four years becomes available, a team has to be willing to trade some prospects to get them. Remember that a guy like David Huff might turn into a Cliff Lee, but he also might be Jeremy Sowers. Adding Peavy to a rotation that includes this year’s AL Cy Young Award winner and a pitcher with the stuff of Carmona would be the first step to returning to the playoffs in 2009.
I doubt the Tribe can pull off such a move, but this is the type of bold move that the Cleveland Indian organization needs to make.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 