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1:30PM UPDATE: ESPN.com talked to Peavy's agent, who indicates that Peavy is leaning against accepting the deal.
If I had to make a bet on it, I would guess that Jake would say he's not ready to take that step today," Axelrod said. "But he wouldn't necessarily preclude it at any time in the future.________________
"We aren't hiding anything from anybody. Jake has a strong preference to stay in the National League. He has a comfort zone there, he's been successful, and he's won a Cy Young Award. I don't know that on May 21, that preference has eroded very much. From our point of view we may say, 'Let's give [the Padres] more time and see if a National League team might step up over the next six weeks.'"If I had to make a bet on it, I would guess that Jake would say he's not ready to take that step today," Axelrod said. "But he wouldn't necessarily preclude it at any time in the future.
"We aren't hiding anything from anybody. Jake has a strong preference to stay in the National League. He has a comfort zone there, he's been successful, and he's won a Cy Young Award. I don't know that on May 21, that preference has eroded very much. From our point of view we may say, 'Let's give [the Padres] more time and see if a National League team might step up over the next six weeks.'
10:50AM UPDATE: Peter Gammons says Beckham is not part of the Peavy deal.
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According to Jon Heymen of Sports Illustrated, Jake Peavy has finally been traded to Chicago...the south side of Chicago. The Chicago Tribune claims the White Sox and Padres agreed to a deal to ship the Padres ace to the South Siders sometime within the last 24 hours and are simply awaiting Peavy's OK on the deal. Peavy, however, does not plan on approving the deal within the next few days and Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald claims the Cubs remain Peavy's #1 destination choice.
Though the prospects in the trade remain unnamed, the Padres are in desperate need of a shortstop. Logic, therefore, would indicate that the Sox would be relinquishing top middle infield prospect Gordon Beckham, the 8th overall pick of the 2008 draft. Beckham, who the Sox shifted over to 2B in the minors to accommodate the now struggling Alexei Ramirez at SS, has posted wOBAs in the mid-.370s at both A and AA. Though minor league numbers rarely translate directly into big league success, Beckham's strong ISO (.180), quality walk rate (9.8 BB%) and above average defense in the middle of the field have tagged him as one of the game's most interesting prospects to watch.
Names directly speculated in the deal are top pitching prospect and #1 draft pick from 2007 Aaron Poreda (LHP, 100 MPH fastball), Clayton Richard (LHP) and possible major league bullpen names like Matt Thorton and Scott Linebrink.
Peavy, who is due $11 million in 2009, will also be owed a sum of $52 million from 2010-2012 and, given his no trade clause, will probably require his $22 million option for 2013 be picked up.
What do you think Chicago fans? Are Cubs fan jealous? Are Sox fans happy? Is it a good idea for the South Side to obliterate its already weak minor league system for one of the game's best pitchers?
1) I've never big a big fan of the minor league system. Most "really good" systems only consist of about 3-5 prospects anyway and too many times have prospects not panned out. I think prospects can be important and ARE important to smaller market teams but to a team like the Sox, a team with money, I don't care. To me, prospects are like draft picks. Sure- they CAN be helpful but I'll take the proven all-star EVERY single time.
ReplyDelete2) Recent White Sox prospects traded away- Brandon McCarthy, Danny Richar, Chris Young, Nick Masset, Ryan Sweeney, Gio Gonzales. The best one out of this bunch is Gonzales because he's still a prospect. White Sox prospects mean nothing to me
3)I absolutely love this deal and i'll comment more about the white sox not signing curretn starters (ie Thome, Dye, Dotel later)