ESPN: Braves interested in Penny?

[walkoffblast]

personally i dont know why the braves feel like they have something to win this season. mclouth isnt overly expensive over the next few years and is an obvious upgrade to the lineup but dealing for penny or any other vet is a bad move imo. the braves' chances of making the playoffs arent very good so why trade off prospects?

I honestly think the Braves still have a solid chance of making the playoffs if the hitting comes around. While we may not be front runners between our starting rotation which is one of the top 5-7 in the majors and our middle of the road bullpen we have a good pitching staff and if our bats can come alive/stay alive we will be in the hunt.

We have some ground to make up but with the Mclouth deal we made it early enough to get some mileage out of him this year.

Right now prospectus playoff odds is giving the braves less than 12.5 percent chance of making the playoffs.

[AngieQ]

Is it possible for a trade to have both sides lose?

[WyldStallyn]

why would epstein have any interest in francoeur and his .309 career obp? doesnt remotely fit the sox mold.

[Fenway Frank]

why penny? why francouer? why why why?

[beaverboy]

why penny? why francouer? why why why?

Two immediate reasons are:

1) Clay Buchholz's promotion
2) JD Drew insurance

[Chicago RedSox]

This trade could make some sense for the Braves, but I really don't see it happening. There is no room/need for Francoeur in the Sox lineup. There would have to be some other players or teams involved for this to play out. Even Wren is denying the trade talks.

Wouldn't this trade be embarrasing for Wren?
-Braves offer Smoltz 3 Mill plus incentives, but he leaves for the Red Sox at 5.5 Mill plus incentives.
-Braves release Glavine, avoiding a 1 Mill contract.
-Braves trade Francoeur (3.375Mill) for Penny (5mill or 8 mill if 160ip reached), who was displaced by Smoltz

They could of had Glavine, Smoltz, and Francoeur for less then 10 million, but would end up with only Penny for 8 million. I know that's over simplified and the moves got Hanson into the rotation, but it still looks bad.

[walkoffblast]

This trade could make some sense for the Braves, but I really don't see it happening. There is no room/need for Francoeur in the Sox lineup. There would have to be some other players or teams involved for this to play out. Even Wren is denying the trade talks.

Wouldn't this trade be embarrasing for Wren?
-Braves offer Smoltz 3 Mill plus incentives, but he leaves for the Red Sox at 5.5 Mill plus incentives.
-Braves release Glavine, avoiding a 1 Mill contract.
-Braves trade Francoeur (3.375Mill) for Penny (5mill or 8 mill if 160ip reached), who was displaced by Smoltz

They could of had Glavine, Smoltz, and Francoeur for less then 10 million, but would end up with only Penny for 8 million. I know that's over simplified and the moves got Hanson into the rotation, but it still looks bad.

The red sox incentives for smoltz were also easier to obtain and Penny has not got to 160IP yet.

[CadensDad]

Yahoo rumors.

According to the Journal-Constitution, the Braves weren't thrilled when Francoeur went to Texas to work with Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. Said Terry Pendleton, the Braves' hitting coach: "I asked Jeff, ‘Why didn't you come to me?' Obviously he felt the need to go elsewhere. It's his winter. [But] it bugged me at first. Not hearing it from him, that got me more than anything. I told him, ‘I thought our relationship was better than that.' "

Maybe Francoeur went somewhere else for help, because Pendleton sucks as a hitting coach and hasn't helped anyone yet, (Seriously this guy is killing us.) Now I'll admit my view of Frenchy is changeing with every strikeout. But think Pendleton is hurting us more than Francoeur