Remember a few weeks ago when a Jake Peavy trade was imminent? The Padres were supposedly very close to sending Peavy to either the Atlanta Braves or Chicago Cubs, and it wasn't a matter of if the deal would be made as much as it was when. Well, Jake Peavy is still in San Diego, the Braves have said they're out of the discussion, and it would look like the Cubs are the only team still willing to talk.
That may explain why former Cubs and Padres pitcher Rick Sutcliffe has been telling Jake how wonderful playing for the Cubs is.
"Rick Sutcliffe is not officially recruiting, because he is not in an official capacity with the Cubs," [Peavy's agent Barry] Axelrod said. "But he has certainly extolled the virtues of being a starting pitcher with the Cubs."
Though why Sutcliffe feels the need to sell Peavy on the Cubs when Jake has already said Chicago is a team he'd like to go to, I'm not sure. In reality Sutcliffe should be telling Jake how nice it would be to pitch for the Yankees or Angels -- whether Rick pitched there or not, Jake's young, he might not know -- because those two teams are looking more and more like his eventual destination.
Do the Cubs want Peavy? Yes. Does Peavy want to go to the Cubs? Yes. Do the Cubs have the prospects to send back to San Diego in return for Peavy? I'm not so sure. The truth is, unless the Cubs bring in a third team, I don't think they're going to land Peavy.
Plus, now Jake's agent Barry Axelrod is saying that there are more teams Peavy would be willing to go to, though that may just be to try and get the Cubs to up their offer or have the Braves get involved again.
Rick Sutcliffe Pitches The Cubs to Jake Peavy originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.