The latest on the expansion of the Jake Peavy sweepstakes from MLBTR:
Let's kick off a fresh post for today's Jake Peavy rumors. A reminder of the latest news: Peavy has preapproved the Yankees and Angels, bringing his total to seven teams. Padres GM Kevin Towers indicated that Peavy would not approve a trade to Boston.
Towers referenced the Dan Haren and Mark Teixeira deals while indicating he wants quality over quantity back. CBS's Scott Miller has info on some players discussed. He says Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno, and Rich Hill are available from the Cubs. With the Dodgers, Chad Billingsley and James McDonald have been discussed. We know Towers wants more from the Dodgers, but Billingsley seems unlikely.
The available players from the Cubs, if indeed they are all to be included in this trade, seems like they could be a game changer. It all depends on how the Padres value those players. Each of them has spent some time in the major leagues with medium to low success, with Hill having the most a year ago.
Another wrinkle with the Cubs is the addition of another team which they could use to get the necessary prospects to the Padres... the rare but exciting "three-way" trade, from Ken Rosenthal:
The best guess on Jake Peavy is that the Padres eventually will trade him to the Braves, who appear to be the most attractive suitor of Peavy's preferred teams. But the Padres could try to expand the discussions, instructing the Cubs or another club to acquire additional prospects from a third team to help complete the trade.
The Cubs seemingly lack the inventory to make such a deal work, but the Padres might need to turn creative if the Braves balk at their price.
The Cubs would really have to want Peavy badly in this case, as they would likely drastically overpay. Of course, after 100 years of no World Series title I guess a team can get desperate.
Over at the AJC, Dave O'Brien echoes much of the news of the past few days and interjects that the Braves prefer not to trade shortstop Yunel Escobar, a player who was mentioned earlier by ESPN as being coveted by San Diego.
O'Brien also mentions the Braves as possible suitors for the young fireballing Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa. It is believed that Tazawa would probably need some time in the minor leagues, as he has not played pro ball in Japan, having made his intentions clear he did not want to be drafted by a Japanese team. The right-handed Tazawa has a fastball that reaches 97 mph.
I really like that we are in on a guy like Tazawa. I keep saying (and more to the point thinking) that we are in a two-year rebuilding process. I don't think we can make it all the way back next year, so a guy like Tazawa fits into that multi-year building block theory -- let him take his licks next year and be ready for prime time in 2010.
There's a lot going on...