Upon further review, perhaps there's a sleeper in the running for Jake Peavy that hasn't yet been considered...and it wouldn't be far from one of the destinations he previously OK'd.
After trading away Javier Vazquez to Atlanta in a deal that appeared to formally take the Braves out of the running for Peavy, the Chicago White Sox may have positioned themselves perfectly to make a move for the 2007 Cy Young winner.
Let's look at the deals White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams has already made this offseason:
- Traded OF/1B Nick Swisher to the New York Yankees for a package of UTIL Wilson Betemit and pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez.
- Traded SP Javier Vazquez and RP Boone Logan to Atlanta for a package of middle infield prospect Brent Lillibridge, third baseman Jonathan Gilmore, pitcher Santos Rodriguez and catcher Tyler Flowers.
- Signed 2B Jayson Nix.
- Signed 3B Dayan Viciedo.
What has this accomplished for the Sox?
First off, it cleared the final two years and $23 million that Vazquez is owed off the books, as well as moving Swisher's contract that has escalating salaries of $5.3, $6.75 and $9 million the next three seasons. As near as I can tell, that's over $41 million off the Sox bottom line between 2009 and 2011.
In return for Swisher the Sox acquired Marquez, who was one of the top prospects in the Yankees organization, and acquired one of the better pitching prospects in the Braves organization (Rodriguez) for Vazquez.
Also consider that the Padres have asked for one thing consistently in all public reports about the Peavy Sweepstakes: they want young starting pitching.
Now place Marquez and Rodriguez into the context of a team that has done a great job of stockpiling young arms in previous drafts and trades. The White Sox have a youngster named Aaron Poreda that many scouts think might work his way into the Sox rotation out of spring training next year. The Sox also have two young starters in their rotation already in Gavin Floyd and John Danks.
There are others in the Sox organization that could also be included in a deal for Peavy. Lance Broadway, Clayton Richard and John Ely are all highly regarded youngsters. In fact, Baseball America has pitchers ranked as three of the top eight prospects in the Sox system entering 2009 (Poreda, Richard and Ely), not including the arms acquired this Winter.
So the pitchers are there to make the deal.
The Sox also have depth in their infield. At third base, the Sox have the Cuban 19-year old Viciedo, Josh Fields and now Betemit and Gilmore. Fields had a nice season covering for injured Joe Crede in 2007, hitting 23 home runs in 100 games.
In the middle of the infield, Rookie of the Year runner-up Alexei Ramirez isn't going anywhere but moving from second base to shortstop. But around him the Sox have sudden depth that's both talented and young.
2008 first round draft pick Gordon Beckham is a shortstop by trade but might make a move to second to accommodate Ramirez. The Sox signed Nix, have now traded for Lillibridge, and also have highly regarded prospects Chris Getz and Eduardo Escobar as middle infielders in their system.
So the Sox have a bounty of young position players that could make a deal work as well.
9 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Sam Brown 7 months ago
man I hope so... that or I think he could go for Halladay, or try to sign Derek Lowe...
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Ray Bogusz 7 months ago
Oh Lord please let that be true. The Good Guy's pitching staff would be sick.
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TAB BAMFORD 7 months ago
Peavy, Buehrle, Floyd & Danks would be mighty nice for the next 2-4 years...
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Daniel Skiston 7 months ago
If anyone could pull that trade off out of the blue Kenny Williams would be the one who could
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TAB BAMFORD 7 months ago
I'm more excited for the Winter Meetings after the last couple days than I anticipated I would be this year. Lot's of potential action. Good stuff. We'll see how trigger happy Kenny really is.
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KMC C. 7 months ago
Sounds like a great idea to me. I'm sure Kenny has atleast thought about it, and the reason Peavy won't go to the Cubs is that they won't give up Vitters. The Sox have plenty of better prospects than the Cubs do. Outside of Vitters, the Cubs farm system dosesn't seem to be that great.
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Kris Trujillo 6 months ago
Look for the Sox to unload Dye, Konerko, or Thome before this can even be thought about. While they freed up some cash with the Swisher and Vazquez deals, Jerry won't be willing to spend that same amount this coming year for two reasons: economic turmoil and the team is not built for immediate success. Jerry is only willing to add on that megastar if the team is prime to win in the upcoming year.
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TAB BAMFORD 6 months ago
The defending division champion isn't built for immediate success? What has happened in the rest of the division that would make you believe the Sox aren't in a position to compete to retain their division crown? Kerry Wood going to a Cleveland team that hasn't replaced Sabathia yet? Kansas City upgrading from mediocre to average players in a few positions?
Adding Peavy to a pitching staff of Buehrle, Danks & Floyd would make the Sox the instant clear-cut favorite to win the AL Central.
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Kris Trujillo 6 months ago
I measure success by ability to win the World Series not simply the division. It was painfully obvious in the playoffs that this team is too slow to win the World Series. Kenny realized this and started acquiring youth in the offseason. Their minor league success has yet to translate into the Bigs - Prospects do not always pan out (not counting my chickens until...). I do not doubt that the Central is weak but winning a weak division should not be the main goal of this club.
Pitching can do wonders, but until proven otherwise by emerging prospects, the Sox are still a live-by, die-by home run hitting team : not exactly a recipe for success.
So by my standards of success, no this team is not set to win it all and I think Jerry will wait to see how these young acquisitions perform on the next level.
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