For all of the will-he-or-won't-he about Jake Peavy that's surrounded the Cubs for weeks now, the one constant has been that pretty much no one knows what's going on, including Lou Piniella. Why, it was just a few weeks ago that Piniella seemed to think a Peavy trade was dead; you could almost hear the resignation in his voice.
Alas, the rumors haven't quieted, and at baseball's Winter Meetings, they've sped into overdrive. From the Philadelphia Inqurier:
Phillies officials were working on a complex trade late last night that could bring them a player who would provide insurance for second baseman Chase Utley and a righthanded bat in left field. The player is Mark DeRosa and if his name sounds familiar, it should. He once quarterbacked the football team at Penn.
In a proposed multi-team trade, DeRosa would go from the Chicago Cubs to the Phillies. The Phillies would send the Cubs a prospect or two, which in turn could be sent to San Diego in a package for pitcher Jake Peavy. Pitcher J.A. Happ is one of the prospects the Phils could part with.
For a while now, when Cubs writers have discussed prying Jake Peavy from San Diego, they've said the trade would rely on a "third team." That always seemed like a stock answer; of course a third team would be needed, but what team could the Cubs get to bite on one of its players? Today, we have an answer.
Nothing's finalized yet, of course, but it is interesting to consider the implications: The Cubs would essentially be swapping Mark DeRosa for Jake Peavy. DeRosa is a fan favorite, and a valuable player -- it's hard to find solid-hitting second basemen who can also provide utility work when necessary -- so it's easy to see why the Phillies want him. But in no way, shape, or form, is a one-to-one trade of Peavy and DeRosa anything but a giant win for the Cubs.
Whether they make it happen is yet to be seen, but if they do, Jim Hendry will have worked trade magic once again. To be continued.
