The Braves are serious
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The Braves are serious
Andy Martino
Hey, remember the ‘90s? When cardigan sweaters were cool for guys, Sean Combs called himself "Puff Daddy" and the Braves were serious? Well, it looks like they’re serious again about their chances this season. The other NL East rival has been active lately, trading for outfielder Nate McLouth, cutting ties with Tom Glavine and now, apparently, checking in on Brad Penny, as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported today. Olney also reported recently that the Phils had checked in with Boston about Penny, and were told the asking price was Jason Donald.
Would you Phils fans make that deal? Would Penny to the Braves bother you?
Comments (47)
I would make that deal, and it would bother me.— HandNik- I wouldn't make that deal, and no it wouldn't bother me— GOdouble
- Penny's stats have been trending upwards in the past month or so. Thus it appears he is getting stronger as a pitcher. Historically he has been terrible as a pitcher in the second half of a season, so which side wins out here? Basically, I would not mind the Braves getting him, since he would be their 5th starter and Kawakami would be pushed to the pen. I don't think that upgrades their rotation, or makes their pen stronger, so I have no problem with it. As for us, I have no interest in Penny/Marquis/Washburn at all. These guys all have long major league track records where we can accurately predict their ceilings and basements. Yes, these guys may have strung together a month or two of good starts, but history tells us that at some point (sooner rather than later), they're going to revert back to their career means. Thus they're all due for a fall. Giving up a cost-effective prospect for a player begging for a regression to his career mean is how you end up like Baltimore (they've made this their MO over the past 10-15 years now). Thanks, but no thanks. Give me an ace, or give me minor league callups, but don't give me garbage from other teams!— phillygreg
- The Braves? Sounds familiar. Weren't they that team that used to be on TV all the time?— Jeffrey
- I would make that deal for Donald, but it wouldn't bother me if the Braves got him.— JeffR
- They were serious when they traded for Texeria a couple years ago and it did nothing for them. Penny stinks.— Lemur
- phillygreg, well said. I think Donald is expendable; the Phils have a set infield and won't need a Donald for a while yet. But he's too valuable to be moved for something like a Penny, especially seeing as how Happ is proving to be the real deal and they have multiple other options for the back end of the rotation.— marty
- I would never make that deal for Penny. Also, I would be thrilled if the Braves were stupid enough to mortgage an even greater part of their future by trading a prospect for Penny.— NeduolCaz
- Penny's doodyball goup— dsh129
- Larry Bowa on Brad Penny last year: "Penny never went to meetings, came late, left early, was never in shape, always had an excuse when things didn't go right, and didn't help the young kids at all." I'll pass on an out-of-shape pitcher with a bad attitude who flares out near the end of every season. I'd rather hold on to the young kids like Happ and Bastardo who actually value their status as major leaguers.— jzpatten
- The other questin is for the Red Sox, is Smoltz really better than Penny right now?— ktdb05
- NO WAY...PENNY IS JUNK— JBP
- Penny serves up lots of fly balls, and would struggle pitching at The Bank. I'll pass, and it won't bother me one bit if the Braves get him.— johnnyvegas
- why are we so scared of the braves? what did trading for mark texeiria get them? penny sucks, i wouldn't trade anything for him.— jazztafari
While the Pennymobile may have an attractive nameplate, it is a high mileage model sure to breakdown sooner rather than later. No thanks. Send him to ATL. Our lefties will crush him.— RAS- Stay away from Penny! He has a bad track record, and I for one believe in Larry Bowa and what he says. Bowa is a Phillie and he would give a straight shot about a guy even if he was on the team still. Stay away from Penny!— Clem
- Right now the weakest link in the starting rotation is Jamie Moyer. Any trade for a starter will likely require his removal. Where does he go?— Rick Wise Guy
Comment removed.- penny is worth just that..a penny— soliteryman
- No way that I would waste Donald on Penny, he's worthless like his name.— TommyD18
- Getting Penny is going to make the Braves better than the Fightins? That's rich. And cardigan sweaters were NEVER cool for guys, except maybe nerds like you, Andy.— steelydad
- What does someone calling himself "steelydad" know about cool?— CenterCityPhan
- No Penny. Now Harang from the DBacks, that is another matter. Then I would not trade Donald but other AAA people with Park and Tash and even Coste. They throw in an AAA catcher too and the deal is done.— KGKoons
- Donald is too high a price for Penny. I think Donald may be able to be a real player at the MLB level. There are no guarentees Pedro will return. Let's wait for some more teams to be falling out of contention and make that deal that will be the nail in the met's coffin. And the Braves suck, so I am really not too worried about them.— Phils1208
- My answers are "NO" and "NO"— DJ
- steelydad: Kurt Cobain was cool, unless you liked lame bands like, say, Steely Dan, just to name a random example.— Andy Martino
- nobody in here has a clue about Donald. He could be the next Rick Schu. make the trade.— thingfish
- Absolutely I would do that deal. One, Jason Donald will never reach the bigs as a Phillie. I like what the kid has but I'm pretty sure Rollins is intact in thsi club. The Red Sox need a short stop as much as we need a righty starter. I thinks it's win-win.— Greg V.
- Comment removed.
- I would never do that deal. And to Marty who says Donald is expendable and are infield is set - There is a good chance that Donald will be the starting third basemen next year since Feliz will be a free agent and Donald is a cheaper alternative for a team with a high payroll.— PhillyFan127
- Olney never reported that the Sox and Phils talked about a Penny-for-Donald deal. That was 100 percent pure Olney riffing on a deal that he thought might make sense (go back and read his column, Andy). Why in the world would the Red Sox want Donald? They have Nick Green and Jed Lowrie. What are they, looking to corner the market on future utility players?— GoPhilsGo
- PhillyFan ... Feliz will not be a free agent (his contract has a team option), and if the Phillies thought Donald could play 3rd base, he'd be playing there for the Iron Pigs. He's not. He's never played 3rd base regularly. He'll probably never hit enough to be a regular third baseman. He's destined to be a ss/2b on someone else's team or a very solid utility man on the Phils.— GoPhilsGo
- Hell no on Donald for Penny. Braves can have Penny - batting practice at this stage of the game.— EaglesWest
- zwarte piet, who likes to make things up as he goes along, wrote, "Penny has underperformed the past several years." For the record, Penny was 16-7 in 2006 and 16-4 in 2007. His 2007 ERA was 3.03. He underperformed in 2008 and in April 2009. That's not "the past couple years. KGKoons ... you are a cartoon, my friend. Harang pitches for the Reds, not the Dbacks. Are you really telling us you think Harang's current employers, whoever they might be, would trade him and a AAA catching prospect for Chan Ho Park, Chris Coste and Jack Taschner?— GoPhilsGo
- Don't want him, don't need him. He won't be worth **** at the end of the year when it counts. If these young arms can give us 6 or 7 and then J.C., Madson and Lidge can do their deal, that's the way to go. ATL is in our rear view for several years.Not good enuf for LB, not good enuf for me.— cbray
- Nope, this is how Buster wrote it: "The Phillies have called the Red Sox to ask about Brad Penny and were told that the asking price would be infielder Jason Donald." Believe me, when he doesn't couch a sentence like that by calling it pure speculation or riffing, Buster has talked to people in the know.— Andy Martino
- Nope, this is how Buster wrote it: "The Phillies have called the Red Sox to ask about Brad Penny and were told that the asking price would be infielder Jason Donald." Believe me, when he doesn't couch a sentence like that by calling it pure speculation or riffing, Buster has talked to people in the know.— Andy Martino
- No Jason Donald for Penny! Are you serious? Jason is at 3B next season.— thejerz
- Reality Check, Cartigans are back in for guys and did'nt the Braves dominate the first half of this decade as well? Anyways, I dont want anything to do with Penny. He is overweight, a bad locker room guy and he would not be an improvement from what we have now. Let the Braves have him...it looks like it will cost them Franceour...— mac2nike
- Andy, you are clueless. The Braves have no interest in Penny. Buster Olney is not God, he doesn't know everything. ESPN gets the news wrong a lot and I know for a fact the Braves have NO interest in Penny.— scars73
- I wouldn't trade Donald for Penny. Penny's a broken down shell of his former self. If we're going to include Donald in a trade for pitching, then we could do a LOT better than Penny.— JimG
- The question for me: is Penny any better than our current options? And the answer is "No." Don't waste prospects on a #6 pitcher (that's right, #6), when you need to use them a #2 pitcher.— Mike P
- Penny is one of those guys who's done after five and a third and 110 pitches. He'll be the answer to a trivia question if they give up Donald for him.— wooderice
- I wouldn't take Penny for free even if he offered to wash my car every week. He is lazy, selfish has been who is a bad influence on young players. The Phillies have multiple pitchers in the minors better than this walking disabled list.— rds260
- anybody who doesn't think that Donald has a place in this lineup hasn't checked Rollins' numbers last year and this year. Keep Donald and "NO", it wouldn't bother me if Penny went to the Braves, in fact, the only thing better would be if he went to the Mets.— bigtbone
- I would stay away from Penny, he's way too injury prone and Donald is probably your starting 3B next season. If you could give a low end prospect for him then maybe.— JBS67
- Why is it we are always looking for what we think is the quick fix? There is no way you make a deal Penny for Donald. Donald is the infield of the future and for those who don't realize it Rollins is in his contract year next year. Why do you think Donald spent so much time at short in spring training? It was to see how well he worked with Utley. Our problems will not be solved with a trade like that since starting is no longer the problem. Or did you all miss the stats posted by the Fox network? Since 2007 Charlie has targeted Madson to be the closer someday but that's not going to happen before they get their moneys worth out of Lidge. If anything we really need a bench player who hits from the right side and is a good situational hitter. The player Cairo was supposed to be. Too many times we needed someone off the bench to just get a single but so far the only bench player to do that is Stairs.— Wally 24
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