Hendry must influence Peavy’s ultimate destination

Cubs GM Jim Hendry may or may not be willing to do what it takes to bring San Diego Padre’s ace Jake Peavy to the Northside. He may not have the lattitude with a management in transition to commit the players or finances to get the deal done. Or he may feel the price is too big offering 3 or 4 top prospects for 1 very large contract. Whatever the reality of the case is, Hendry must find a way to influence where Jake Peavy will end up this season.

With the White Sox deal apparently dead, there seems no doubt Padre GM Kevin Towers is motivated to move Peavy at the right price. If he had gone to the Sox, that would have been a PR nightmare for the Cubs, but of no baseball impact. If Peavy ends up in Milwaukee as a Brewer or St. Louis as a Cardinal, then it is a terrible baseball scenario as well as PR problem. These division rivals are always tough on the Cubs regardless of standings but in a playoff race, such a move could prove very costly to the Cubs.

In years where there is a big rush on July 31 trade deadline deals, sometimes there are deals that don’t get done in time. So after that deadline passes each year, there is a waiver process where players must clear (be rejected) by all other teams in their league, going from worst record to best, and then again through the other major league in similar fashion. This is usually in a player salary dump situation. The claiming team is then on the hook for the balance of that players contract. However, the waiving team could pull back their player from waivers without recourse. This is all important because for a player to be traded after August 1st, the player but be cleared through waivers before a trade can happen. So teams that are in front of the league leaders will make waiver claims to block their rival further down the list from picking up a player they need. In essence, I am suggesting the Cubs GM should insinuate himself in the Peavy process now to help influence where he goes – if not to the Cubs!

So Jim Hendry should be very aware of where Peavy is being shopped to prevent him from landing at a NL Central Division rival like the Brewers or Cardinals. If the Cubs aren’t going to get him, maybe they can play a role in a 3 or 4 team deal to help guide Peavy away from the NL Central. This is what good GMs should be thinking about. If he can’t be ours, you sure can’t let him land in your back yard to beat you!

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May 22, 2009 Tags: Brewers, Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Jake Peavy, Jim Hendry, Kevin Towers, Padres Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, biz of baseball, players, rivalries