An off day is the perfect time to return to obsessing about a trade that will almost certainly never happen, and given the Chicago Cubs’ offensive struggles, is almost certain not to matter.
But still, it’s interesting to hear more about Jake Peavy, and possible trades. So here’s some more info from Jayson Stark as of last week.
1. Peavy never seriously contemplated approving that White Sox trade — at least for now — and never even got to the point where he or agent Barry Axelrod informed the White Sox they would need his 2013 option year guaranteed (at $22 million). So the White Sox’s willingness to discuss that possibility was a non-factor.
So clearly, Peavy is going to be very restrictive in where he’s willing to go. Obviously this helps a team like the Cubs – to whom Peavy is more than willing to go.
2. Peavy remains locked in on staying in the National League. And if he’s going to change leagues, the Angels appear to be the one club he’d actually think about.
3. Almost anywhere he goes, Peavy will want his partial no-trade clause in 2011-13 converted into a full no-trade. He has a complete no-trade through 2010.
But will he require that now-obscene $22 million option year in 2013 to be picked up?
4. His preference is still to stay in the Pacific time zone, as close to his new home in San Diego as possible. So the Dodgers would now loom as his first choice, assuming those two teams could ever find a way to do business. But while Peavy might have done a quick thumbs-down on the White Sox, the Cubs still appear to rank second on his wish list.
5. And once you get beyond the Cubs and Dodgers, his next tier of preferred destinations appears to include the Giants, Cardinals and Astros (because of his friendship with Roy Oswalt). Then the Brewers would lag slightly behind that group. East Coast teams like the Phillies, Mets, Yankees and Red Sox would probably have to jump through so many hoops and offer so many dollars and perks, we’d bet heavily against Peavy winding up in the Eastern time zone any time soon.
The Cardinals have some money woes right now, and the Astros are quickly falling so far behind, that neither seems likely to pursue Peavy. If the Padres have any reluctance to dealing Peavy in the division, that would leave the Cubs as the only serious destination.