San Diego Padres talking Jake Peavy to audience of one, the Cubs
LAS VEGAS — He may have come into the den of pens to see Greg Maddux discuss his retirement from baseball, but San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers couldn’t leave without talking about another Cy Young Award winner who may join Maddux as a former Padre.
Outside of those initial pitchers — CC and AJ — no ace is generating as much chatter as Jake Peavy.
Asked directly how many interested clubs have contacted Towers about Peavy, he was equally direct about the number of teams that have a chance at trading for the righthander.
“One,” Towers said. “One ball club.”
That one is the Chicago Cubs.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry declined to discuss specifics saying only that he imagined there would some “chats” between him and Towers during the next couple days. Tampering rules bind Hendry’s hands when it comes to comments about a player under contract with another team. Not so for Towers, who has been candid about his team actively pursuing a deal for Peavy, the 2007 Cy Young award winner and the difficult times he’s had aligning two triggers for a trade:
- An interested team with players the Padres are interested in.
- An interested team that Peavy is interested in playing for.
Peavy and his agent, Barry Axelrod, provided the Padres a list of about five teams that Peavy would accept a trade to (he has no-trade protection in his current deal). On that list was the St. Louis Cardinals. But the Cardinals didn’t have the first part of that equation. Towers said anywhere between 15 to 17 clubs approached him about making a deal for Peavy. Somewhere between five to 10 had players that San Diego was interested in acquiring. Only one, so far, has Peavy’s approval: the Cubs.
“Any deal we do will have to include two, three or four major league-ready players who can step in,” Towers said a few minutes ago in the Bellagio ballroom.
He classified talks with the Cubs as “ongoing.”
Hendry again declined to discuss specifics, saying only that the Cubs have come to Vegas and the Baseball Winter Meetings looking for a lefthanded bat. Left unsaid was they wouldn’t mind leaving with an ace. Hendry has been given clearance, he said, to raise his payroll for the 2009 season. He would not say specifically but it’s believed it could reach as high as $140 million.
“We’re not holding up any trophies,” Hendry said this morning after Maddux’s retirement press conference. “We’ve failed miserably in the playoffs and we’re looking to improve that.”
Towers did allow for the possibility of a third team becoming involved to make a deal happen.
Towers later said that he would like to have a deal in place for Peavy by the end of this week or the Padres would have to look into announcing that Peavy will start the year with them, likely as their opening day starter and that the Peavy Affair would be renewed next season if the righthander wished to leave San Diego.
“If (a trade) doesn’t work out,” Towers said, “then I’m more than happy to start the season (with Peavy).”
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
“If (a trade) doesn’t work out,” Towers said, “then I’m more than happy to start the season (with Peavy).”
That’s great Kevin ole boy because four major league ready players for an expensive arm like Peavy’s who’s also coming off a bad year is ludicrous. Enjoy having him for another year unless Hendry is stupid enough to pay your ransom after he’s already overspent on pitching.
I don’t understand what the dumb Cubs think they are doing. I just read today that Tribune. Which is the company that owns the Cubs is planning on filing bankruptcy protection. That is what the Cards should do spend so much money on top players and paying them exorbitant amounts of money and then file for protection so you don’t have to pay it. Am I the only one that is upset about this?
Hey Aztec, Peavy went
(last year) 10-11 1.18whip .229BAA 2.85 ERA
This guy is a stud on a bad team, MO has to work a deal!
And Towers said 2,3 or 4 not that it had to be 4 players.
A Wainwright/Peavy one two punch, with Lohse and hopefully Carpenter will make this the best starting rotation in the NL.
Besides- Cards paid
Loshe 41 million over 4 years for a
(career) 78-80 4.67 ERA
(last year) 1.30whip 3.78 ERA (his best of his career)
Peavy -
(career) 86-62 1.19whip .232BAA 3.25 ERA
(last year) 10-11 1.18whip .229BAA 2.85 ERA (a whole run better than Loshe last year)
2009 opening day age: 27
2009 salary: $11 million
2010 salary: $15 million
2011 salary: $16 million
2012 salary: $17 million
GO FOR BROKE, trade and lock up Peavy for four years. Compared to other pitchers, his salary is a steal, and he wants to come here.
Remember how the D-Backs won with Schilling/Johnson or the Braves with Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux? It’s a no-brainer. Get three starters with Wainwright, Peavy and Carpenter and let TLR change the line-up every night and win with pitching.
It’s also the best thing to do fiscally. Give your team a chance to win 4 out of every 5 games - and the fans will hit the turn-style.
I even promise to buy a Peavy shirt.
starting rotation-
1-Peavy
2-Wainwright
3-Carp
4-Lohse
5-Joe the Plummer for all I care
See ya Lugnut and Skippy, throw in 5 other players, I don’t care, just get Peavy for 4 years and win a world series.
Hey CubsREEK/Jesus Saves or whoever else you are,
Do you have nothing better to do than re-post this stupid Peavy argument under different names on all conversations Cardinals? Get a life! It’s a good thing you aren’t calling the shots, since every other GM save one clearly isn’t interested in paying the ransom the Padres want for a guy who could very well be the next Mark Mulder. I guess you are right and they are all dolts, right?
CubsREEK,
As Goold points out in this post, the Cardinals do not have the players Towers wants in return. Only one team on Peavy’s list has players the Padres want, and it ain’t St. Louis. Any trade discussion ends there.
Be thankful, ’cause Peavy is projected as an injury risk for the rest of his career. Whoever pays the king’s ransom for him will regret it.
Isn’t it weird how there are always these fans who keep posting “get Peavy”, “get Peavy”, “get Peavy” (or whichever player is the hot topic of the moment) even though it has been made clear in several articles now that the Cards don’t have anything the Padres want? I can’t decide if these fans just don’t finish reading the articles or are just plain stupid. Oh, I know, they think there is some kind of conspiracy and the Cards really do have the players the Padres want and are lying about it cuz they really just don’t want to spend the big $$ to get Peavy. Geesh! To those of you who can’t get off the Peavy fantasy ride…I beg you, please quit posting.
It really won’t matter much if the “scrubbies” get Peavy or not. They will never win!! Ever!!!! Go Redbirds!!