Major League Baseball

ChiSox land Peavy in late deadline trade

Published Aug. 1, 2009 7:26 a.m. ET

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Jake Peavy has finally agreed to pitch for the Chicago White Sox.




Peavy waived his no-trade clause to approve a trade to the AL Central contenders, as first reported by SI.com. The Padres received left-handers Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard, and righties Dexter Carter and Adam Russell.

"I think Jake just got to the breaking point," Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod told FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal. "One team wanted him bad enough, and the other team wanted to get rid of him."

Peavy, 28, is currently on the disabled list with a strained tendon in his right ankle. The date of his return is uncertain.

He is signed for $15 million next season, $16 million in 2011 and $17 million in 2012, with a $22 million club option for 2013.

The deal, Axelrod said, came together in the final hour before Friday's 4 p.m. ET for completing trades without waivers.

In May, Padres and White Sox agreed to a deal for Peavy, but the 2007 NL Cy Young winner turned it down.

"He never said no, he just said 'not yet,"' White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said.


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"So those words 'not yet' for me meant just that. ... If you are patient in your pursuit, then sometimes you can ultimately get what you want," he said. "When we called back this time, he was better prepared — he and his family were better prepared for what lies ahead. We were all able to make it work."

Peavy is 6-6 with a 3.97 ERA in 13 starts with the Padres this season but has been on the disabled list since June 13 with a strained tendon in his right ankle. Williams said the White Sox didn't expect Peavy to pitch until the end of August and that he could go on some rehab assignments in the middle of the month.

"We're going to still be conservative with our approach. In our division this thing is going to go down to winning games in September," Williams said. "We want to be as strong as we possibly can in September. That's what we're focused on."

Over eight major league seasons with the Padres, Peavy is 92-68 with a 3.29 ERA and 1,348 strikeouts in 212 starts. He was a unanimous selection for the Cy Young Award in 2007 when he went 19-6 with a 2.54 ERA and 240 strikeouts in 34 starts.

He will give the White Sox a top starter along with lefty Mark Buehrle, who pitched a perfect game in July. When he is healthy, Peavy will join a rotation that includes Gavin Floyd, John Danks and Jose Contreras.

Until then the White Sox will have to mix and match to find a fifth starter with Bartolo Colon injured and Richard off to San Diego.

Williams said he called Padres general manager Kevin Towers on Friday morning and got talks rekindled. Axelrod went to Peavy's house and Williams said the deal was completed mere seconds before the 3 p.m. CDT deadline.

Williams said he'd been interested in Peavy since the trade deadline a year ago and then was close to landing him in May. This time he worked on the trade with few people even knowing about it.

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