White Sox playing waiting game with Padres' ace Jake Peavy
The White Sox are playing a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Thursday afternoon.
The Sox are also playing a waiting game with San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy.
A trade is in place that would bring Peavy to the South Side in a deal for four rumored pitchers _ including top prospect Aaron Poreda and current No. 5 starter Clayton Richard.
"I love pitching," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said Thursday morning. "You have pitching and better defense, you have a chance to win. Having him in the rotation, it would be great.
"He's one of the best in the game, if not the best in the game, at least in the National League. If it happens, it's going to make our ballclub a lot better. We've got to show those guys we're pushing. We'll see what we can do about it. (GM) Kenny (Williams) is doing stuff to make this ballclub better."
The deal is in place, but Peavy has a no-trade clause and needs to approve the move.
Sox reliever Scott Linebrink played with Peavy in San Diego and talked to his former teammate Wednesday.
Linebrink said he expects Peavy to make a decision today, but the 2007 Cy Young Award winner is apparently going to take more time.
"If I had to make a bet on it, I would guess that Jake would say he's not ready to take that step today," Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, told ESPN.com.
Linebrink tried selling Peavy on joining the Sox, but the right-hander has expressed a desire to remain in the National League.
"He has a comfort zone there, he's been successful, and he's won a Cy Young Award," Axelrod said. "I don't know that on May 21, that preference has eroded very much. From our point of view we may say, 'Let's give (the Padres) more time and see if a National League team might step up over the next six weeks.'
"If this were any one of three or four other teams and they called about him, Jake would jump at it. He would be willing. They know who they are. They know that certain places are more enticing to him."
Peavy is 3-5 with a 3.82 ERA this season, and the Padres are 18-22 in the NL West, 10 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
More details later.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=295278">Rozner: Sox want Peavy, but it's not done as Cubs lurk <span class="date">[05/21/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2026">Blog: Looks like Kenny's back in business <span class="date">[05/21/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>