Perhaps you've heard something about the White Sox's deal for Jake Peavy. It was this morning's biggest sports story, at least in Chicago (probably nationally, too, seeing as most big sports news doesn't happen early on weekday mornings). It meant the White Sox would acquire one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, along with his salary, for a few prospects, and would immediately change their long-term outlook. It's a big deal.
Or, it was. After a few hours and a few carefully placed quotes from Peavy's agent, the trade seems officially dead:
"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. If this were any one of three or four other teams and they called about him, Jake would jump at it. He would be willing. They know who they are. They know that certain places are more enticing to him.''
The agent, Barry Axelrod, also said that while Peavy wasn't "hiding from anyone," the pitcher prefers to stay in the National League where he's won a Cy Young. All well and good. But it's hard to escape the feeling that Peavy's concerns have more to do with manager Ozzie Guillen -- who was rumored to be on Peavy's "I don't want to play for that crazy guy" list -- than about the vagaries of the National or American league.
If so, that's unfortunate for the Sox. One of Peavy's desired teams is the Chicago Cubs. If the Sox come away from today without Peavy, and Cubs GM Jim Hendry finally puts together a package to steal him away, that would only add insult to failed trade injury.
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
