Peavy and the Brewers?

I only have access to Google websites at work, which means I can use Blogger, but I am denied all other access. I saw a link on MSN.com about why the Brewers and Jake Peavy are a perfect fit and demanded someone send me the text of the article via email.

This is the link, so you can see where it came from.

Here’s the text:

With the White Sox not working out, Jorge Says No! renews his long-held belief that the Brewers are the best destination for Jake Peavy, citing, among other things, the stability of Peavy's contract situation and the fact that the Brewers have a lot to offer in terms of prospects. He finishes with this:

Many of the same reasons why I thought the Brewers should go after Peavy in December have remained almost identical to now. But the major difference is that the Brewers have played very good ball so far this season and have proved to the rest of the league that they are for real. The goal is no longer to replace Sabathia and Sheets, but instead, to make a major push towards the playoffs in 2009.

When it comes down to it, the opportunity to add a top flight starting pitcher rarely presents itself nowadays. The Brewers need to at least explore the market for Peavy and see if there is any chance of making this a reality.

I can't say I disagree with any of that. And if I were Milwaukee, I'd move quickly, because the faster they move, the more likely it is that the pressure will increase on Peavy to finally approve one of these trades lest he look like a prima donna. If they wait too long, that pressure will dissipate.

There are two key issues here – I think.

First, I’m not sure I would want to give up the prospects that would likely be necessary to complete this trade. One can assume that Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar would at least be talked about. I’m not familiar enough with the Padres to know what their needs are, so I’m not sure what they’d be looking for.

I know it will be impossible to keep the team (and our top prospects) as they are now, but I’m really wary to screw with the crop of guys we have. I’m aware that it’s inevitable, but the best thing this team has going for it is the team chemistry and I’m loathe to do anything to mess that up.

There’s also the matter of salary to consider.

And that leads to the second issue – Peavy’s attitude about this trade. He’s well on his way to a Diva label here and because of the aforementioned chemistry, I’m really worried about bringing this guy into our clubhouse.

Can we assume that Trevor Hoffman and Mike Cameron, both former teammates of Peavy’s, would be able to help him fit in and keep him in check?

Will Cam and Hoffman be advocating for Peavy to be a Brewer? I think that will be an extremely telling sign. Cam lobbied long and hard both to the Brewers and to Trevor Hoffman in order to get that trade to happen. If Cam doesn’t do that now, doesn’t that tell us something about the opinion Peavy’s teammates have of him?

The White Sox situation is questionable because the trade was all but finished when Peavy exercised his no trade clause. It’s hard to imagine that both teams would have spent the time hammering out a trade without checking with Peavy first. It would have been foolish of both teams to have gotten that far along in the process without checking to see if Peavy would exercise his no-trade clause. Does that then mean that Peavy changed his mind or reneged?

Talked to a White Sox fan today who said she wasn’t sure she wanted Peavy after all the negative talk. We both wholeheartedly agreed that no matter what, we don’t want Peavy to become a Cub.