When Jake Peavy takes the mound later today against the Detroit Tigers, he'll be wearing a White Sox uniform, but he's essentially pitching for another team. Good luck figuring out just which one it might be.
Sure, there's a chance the Sox could hang onto him, but he says Rick Hahn and the front office are keeping him abreast of where he could be headed, and it sounds like he's prepared to move:
"I’m pretty abreast of what’s going on, and Rick does an incredible job of staying in contact with us,’’ said Peavy, who is said to be wanted by the Red Sox, Cardinals, Athletics and probably more. "Just being professional, letting us know kind of how things stand. If something does happen, I’m not going to be caught off-guard by it.
"If you get moved now, you’re going to a contender. If I got moved in the winter, you’d be going to a team that was hoping to upgrade and be a contender. I’ve said I want to be on a winning team. I’ve said I hope that’s here. If I get moved, I hope it’s to a team that’s in the thick of things. That’s all you can ask for.’’
So who's interested in Peavy? Well, we've heard about the Cardinals, and the Red Sox remain active participants in the rumor mill. Scott Merkin said Will Middlebrooks was mentioned in trade discussions, but, as is often the case this time of year, it was shot down by the media on the other side in short order.
Then there are the Oakland A's, who lost out on Matt Garza after a late charge, and now will be scouting Peavy with heightened interest, Jon Heyman says. And the Braves, who have been tied to Peavy before and are regularly referenced on the periphery, just lost Tim Hudson for the season with a gruesome ankle injury.
While the White Sox could keep him for 2014, Buster Olney thinks other teams are apprehensive about the price for the second year (rewritten to make more sense). Perhaps that's not so much about the dollar value itself (a seemingly reasonable $14.5 million), but the combination of that and the prospect payment the Sox are seeking. Still, with the list of interested teams growing by the day, it seems like Hahn should find something to his liking if Peavy can get out of today's start in full working order.