NEWSLETTER
We all know that the Chicago Cubs were pursuing a deal for Jake Peavy in the offseason. But we had been led to believe that the deal never got past the preliminary stages of negotiation – i.e., who would be included, and do the teams really want to get serious.
Well, apparently it was serious. Very.
The Cubs were on the cusp of a deal for Jake Peavy in the winter, much closer than anybody realized at the time. They were so close, in fact, that Peavy’s side had begun the process of negotiating how much of his salary would be deferred. I’s were being dotted, t’s were being crossed. Buster Olney: ESPN.
If only some idiot pencil-pusher was faster at crossing t’s and dotting i’s.
Unlike the winter, it now seems as though the question of whether Peavy will be traded to the Cubs rests with the Cubs and not the Padres. Most sources believe Peavy will be traded if the Padres are not competitive, and most people with brains believe the Padres will not be competitive.
General Manager Kevin Towers has all but confirmed this thesis:
“I’m sure [new owner] Jeff [Moorad] and I will sit down and decide what’s best for his organization going forward if we’re not in contention and if there’s interest (in Peavy),” Towers said. San Diego Union-Tribune.
The leading suitors for Peavy remain the Cubs – though depending on how the rotation shakes out over the course of the next few months, the Cubs may lose interest – and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Something I found interesting in the initial piece from Olney is the suggestion that the negotiations this winter had reached the stage where deferred money was discussed. I note this not only because it is one of the last things discussed in a trade, but also because Peavy’s salary in 2010 and beyond was often cited as a stumbling block for the Cubs.
If deferred money was the only way around this block, then it makes sense that the deal would have fallen apart due to ownership concerns. How could the Cubs, at that time constituted, agree to defer tens of millions of dollars that would have to be paid by some as of yet unknown owner?
The owner is now in place. Perhaps he knows how to cross those t’s and dot those i’s.
