White Sox trade rumors: Posturing on Jake Peavy, but Andre Rienzo is ready

Jesse Crain was the last guy the White Sox needed to trade, which is why Rick Hahn is opening up the possibility that he's done for the summer. As contradictory reports over Jake Peavy's future swirl, Hahn told the beat writers that he didn't need to cut payroll, but Buster Olney had taken it one step further:

The White Sox are telling other teams they're going to keep Peavy and build around him.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 29, 2013

Of course, he followed that immediately with:

The White Sox may well be trying to apply more leverage in the Peavy talks by saying they're holding him, before making a move... We'll see.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 29, 2013

It really doesn't make much sense for Peavy to start for the White Sox tomorrow, as for the rest of the season. I'll merely C&P Larry's comment, since it makes the point succinctly:

let's be clear about what we get and don't get if peavy stays on the team until the offseason.

the white sox get to pay him $5M. the white sox get to not take a look at a young starting pitcher. the white sox get whatever value he produces, which is utterly useless to them, if not counterproductive considering the white sox don’t really want his good production, they want to get a good draft position.

they don’t get to sell the value of his starts in 2013, which constitutes more than a quarter of his remaining value. they don’t get as good of a return. they don’t get to use the additional payroll flexibility to potentially better shop one of their overpriced contracts.

so out $5 million, out 25% of his trade value, out whatever lesser value his replacement produces, out of better ability to trade konerko, dunn, ramirez, etc. that’s why he’s gone by this time tomorrow.

Robin Ventura said the team has a contingency plan not named "Dylan Axelrod" if Peavy is traded -- or held back -- before his start tomorrow, and a report from Matheus Rocha at the Brazilian outlet Extratime is reporting who that mystery man might be.

Take it away, Google Translate:

The Brazil finally has its second player in the big leagues. According EXTRATIME determined by the Chicago White Sox pitcher Andre Rienzo summoned to join the team on Monday (29) after replacing the reliever Jesse Crain for the Tampa Bay Rays.

While the wording of the report isn't precise (he's not straight-up replacing Crain, who is on the DL and didn't vacate a 25-man roster spot), it's being circulated:

O arremessador brasileiro André Rienzo, após excelentes atuações na Triple A, foi chamado para integrar o elenco do Chicago White Sox.

— MLB Brasil (@MLBBrasil) July 29, 2013

And it makes sense that Rienzo would be en route to Cleveland, because even if Peavy's deal weren't finalized in time to start for another team on Tuesday, he could just as well start Wednesday for somebody. And shortly after Peavy was victorious in what appeared to be his last White Sox start at U.S. Cellular Field on Thursday afternoon, Rienzo threw a no-hitter on Thursday night. The timing works on multiple levels, even if it doesn't spell the end for Peavy for sure.

The latest on Peavy:

• The A's are allegedly out, and will use the resources they offered for Peavy to use on other areas.
• The Red Sox are still on him, but ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes says they're frustrated by "mixed signals."
• The New York Post's Joel Sherman says Peavy wants to be dealt to play for a contender.