Thursday was just not been a very good day to be a member of the Chicago White Sox, or a fan of the team. After much ado about Jake Peavy throughout the day, followed by a 20-1 beatdown from the Minnesota Twins, the Chicago Sun-Times is now reporting that Jake Peavy has rejected the trade that would have sent him to the White Sox.
A source close to the Jake Peavy camp said today that the ace pitcher has notified the San Diego Padres that he will not accept the trade to the South Side, apparently killing the deal that would have sent four players west and put Peavy in black and white.
There is no indication of the Padres have notified the Sox yet, but the Padres have been informed.
Obviously this comes as a pretty big blow to the White Sox, though it doesn't mean that Peavy won't be coming to Chicago eventually, whether it's with the Cubs or White Sox. It's entirely possible that the only reason Peavy has rejected the deal is because he wants to sit around and see if any better situations manifest.
The Cubs could still make a run, and they are a more desirable team for Peavy because they're in the National League, and let's just be honest, they're a lot better than the White Sox. As White Sox reliever Scott Linebrink said earlier today, though, Peavy was considering accepting this deal because he wasn't sure he was going to get another chance.
He knows he's going to be traded by the Padres at some point this season -- they want to rebuild, he costs a lot of money -- but there aren't many teams with enough resources to make the deal that appeal to Peavy's demands. So it's entirely possible that Kenny Williams could give the Padres another call in a few weeks, particularly if the White Sox turn their season around, and Peavy will be more inclined to accept the deal.
Either way, this rejection does hurt the south siders. Adding Peavy to their starting rotation would have made them an instant favorite in a very weak and winnable AL Central division. Without him, they remain as just another average team hoping for the best.
Along with writing for NBCCHICAGO.com, Tom Fornelli can also be found contributing at FanHouse, SPORTSbyBROOKS, and his own Chicago sports blog Foul Balls. He has no idea what he's going to do with all those Peavy shirts he just had printed.
