There was some doubt that Peavy will accept the deal because of possible apprehension about either playing for Ozzie Guillen, playing in the American League, or pitching in US Cellular Field. The San Diego Union Tribune's Tom Krasovic originally reported the deal, and now according to Krasovic, it's "unlikely' this trade is going to go through.
Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Tom Fornelli and Eamonn Brennan discuss the ALDS between the Rays and White Sox.
Eamonn and I took a look at this series and broke it down into six key areas: Starting rotation, Bullpen, Defense, Lineup, Bench, and Manager. Then for good measure we throw in our five-star lock of the week predictions, because we're psychic mediums in our spare time.
With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.
- The Red Sox, Marlins and Pirates are indeed working on a three-way deal that would send Manny Ramirez to South Florida, Jeremy Hermida and prospects to Pittsburgh and Jason Bay (and possibly reliever John Grabow) to Boston. The trade is still a long way from being completed, however, with the teams expected to haggle right up to the deadline on the prospects heading to the Pirates. The deal is fragile because it involves three teams and prospects from both Florida and Boston, so it could go right down to the wire, and there's always a chance the deal collapses.
But there is also a different feeling in Boston this time around with Ramirez, much like the feeling in 2004 when GM Theo Epstein swallowed hard and got rid of the beloved Nomar Garciaparra. If the three-way deal with the Pirates collapses, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Red Sox would then deal directly with the Marlins. And remember this: while the Red Sox would love to have Manny Ramirez in their lineup in October, it won't be as difficult as you'd think to replace his production over the final two months of the season because he is so poor defensively.
- GM Kenny Williams has already added future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. to the White Sox's roster, but he might not be done. With Scott Linebrink on the DL and closer Bobby Jenks just off of it, Chicago is looking for bullpen depth. Williams and the White Sox have been connected with Oakland closer Huston Street for a few weeks now, and there are indications from the Windy City that he'll make a final push to acquire him before the 4PM ET deadline. Eamonn Brennan has already covered the Nick Swisher-Street swap speculation already at FanHouse and correctly assumes that a deal is unlikely.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
It's been a week of change for Mr. CC Sabathia. Not only did he decide that former Cy Young Award winners don't need to subscribe to the rules of the english language and drop the periods from his initials, but tonight he'll also be taking a pitchers mound in a Brewers jersey for the first time.
Whether or not this move ends up in a playoff appearance for the Brewers this season, it was a move they had to make. After deciding to stand pat at the trade deadline last season--save for adding Scott Linebrink--the Brewers faded down the stretch before losing the division to the Chicago Cubs. To not make a move this season would have told the fans that while they don't mind winning in Milwaukee, it's really all about making a profit.
Now everybody knows that the Brewers only have on goal, and that's to win a championship.
Will CC be the man to help them get there? I'm not sure, but we'll start to find out tonight. Really, the only thing I'm truly interested in during tonight's game will be whether or not Sabathia can restrain himself from trying to eat any contestants in the sausage race.
Make no mistake about it, the reason the Chicago White Sox are in first place in their division is their pitching staff. The White Sox have the best team ERA in baseball at 3.39, and it could be argued that the Dotel-Linebrink-Jenks combination at the back of the bullpen is the best in baseball (I heard Joe Morgan say it, so it has to be true).
So with the Twins refusing to get off their backs, the Sox can't really afford to lose any of their pitchers, and they got some good news on Saturday when they found out Bobby Jenks won't have to spend any time on the disabled list.
The White Sox were concerned enough about the tightness in Bobby Jenks'upper left back that they ordered an MRI and CTScan Saturday. The results were negative and Jenks should be ready to pitch in the Kansas City series starting Tuesday.
The Sox bullpen closer has not appeared since last Sunday against the Cubs, when he allowed a hit and walk but escaped with no runs. Though the tightness is not in his throwing shoulder, it was painful enough that it affected his performance.
It was in that game against the Cubs that the team noticed Jenks was only hitting 91-93 on the radar gun, down from his normal 95-96 range, and became concerned. Considering the struggles that Scott Linebrink has had when he's filled in during 9th innings this season, this is very good news for the White Sox, though it's probably a situation they'll be keeping their eye on.
There have been many great love affairs throughout history, whether real or fictional. There was Romeo and Juliet, Homer and Marge, Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and of course, the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals relievers. In the past few years the White Sox have taken their fair share of Royals relievers and brought them to Chicago. Mike MacDougal and Andrew Sisco come to mind as two recent examples.
The White Sox are no strangers to pursuing relievers who recently wore the powder blue of the Kansas City Royals, but as of Friday afternoon, the club was keeping mum on reports that it had agreed on a two-year, $11 million contract with Octavio Dotel.
Neither Dotel's agent or Kenny Williams will confirm the report, but I'm guessing that due to his injury history, the White Sox would like Dotel to pass a physical first before making anything official.
If the reports are true, and Dotel does join the Sox bullpen, he'll be the second major addition to the unit this offseason. Earlier this winter the White Sox added Scott Linebrink to the back of their bullpen.
When the White Sox won the World Series in 2005 general manager Kenny Williams was seen as a brilliant man, a hero even. After all, the last time a Chicago baseball team had won a World Series before then, a cold and lonely caveman was still perfecting fire.
Ever since the 2006 season started, things have gone in the opposite direction. It seems like nothing Kenny does is right in the eyes of White Sox fans, including yours truly. It's okay though, Kenny's used to it.
The White Sox general manager has a World Series ring on his finger, still glistening after just two years of wear and tear. Yet there he was Monday afternoon, standing in one of the many lobbies throughout the spacious Gaylord Opryland Resort, defending himself from critics who in some cases have deemed him the village idiot.
''I'm getting used to hearing the negative tones,'' Williams said in a monotone, hours after his latest acquisition was announced.
Well it's a good thing he's used to it, because I don't think it's going to end anytime soon.
For some reason there are pitchers available-which last I checked, the Sox need-like Johan Santana, Dan Haren, and Erik Bedard and yet I never hear the White Sox mentioned when it comes to teams who are interested. Instead the Sox are busy signing guys like Scott Linebrink (who is a nice signing, but sure isn't the answer) and trading for Carlos Quentin.
The decimation of the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen might have begun on the eve of Thanksgiving. There is a report on ESPN Radio in Chicago, via the folks at Sox Machine, that reliever Scott Linebrink has signed a four year, $19 million deal with the Chicago White Sox. The deal is pending the ever-popular physical.
Linebrink hasn't been at the peak of his game since the '05 season when he finished with an ERA of 1.83 (which followed a season where his ERA was 2.14), but the 31-year-old should be a valuable addition to the Sox bullpen if he passes that physical. For the Brewers, they obviously knew they were losing Linebrink so they went to Plan B and traded for Guillermo Mota.
If Mota was Plan B, I cringe at the thought of what Plan C might have been.
The Brewers' bullpen ranked 12th in the National League with a 4.15 ERA this past season. Unfortunately, they may keep falling next year as two of their top relievers are up for free agency this year.
Francisco Cordero, the anchor to the 'pen, posted a 2.98 ERA with 44 saves, should find a lot of suitors as arguably the most attractive closer on the market. (Mariano Rivera is more decorated, sure, but he's also five years Cordero's elder.) Scott Linebrink, acquired by the Brewers midseason, had a down year by his standards but was still above-average and managed to strike out a batter per inning during his time in Milwaukee.
Brewers GM Doug Melvin will make his pitch but realizes keeping either player, especially Cordero, will be difficult. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
"We're going to make a very aggressive offer and proposal to Cordero somewhere along the line in hopes of bringing him back," Melvin said. "We know how valuable a closer is in this game.
"When players get this close to free agency, they like to file. For us to get something done sooner is probably a long shot. They get a lot of pressure from the union to test the market, when you're a premium player."
Should Cordero in fact bail for more money elsewhere, the Brewers aren't completely stuck without any options: Derrick Turnbow, the team's primary setup man for much of the year, has closing experience albeit with a track record marked with inconsistency.
Have you heard? The White Sox and Padres have agreed to a deal that would send Jake Peavy to Chicago for what is being reported as four players, two of which are believed to be Clayton Richard and Aaron Poreda. The teams have agreed to the deal and now the only thing we need to sit around and wait for is Peavy's approval.
Back in early February, 
With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.
Make no mistake about it, the reason the Chicago White Sox are in first place in their division is their pitching staff. The White Sox have the best team ERA in baseball at 3.39, and it could be argued that the Dotel-Linebrink-Jenks combination at the back of the bullpen is the best in baseball (I heard 
There have been many great love affairs throughout history, whether real or fictional. There was Romeo and Juliet, Homer and Marge, Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and of course, the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals relievers. In the past few years the White Sox have taken their fair share of Royals relievers and brought them to Chicago. 
When the White Sox won the World Series in 2005 general manager 
The 
The Brewers' bullpen ranked 12th in the National League with a 4.15 ERA this past season. Unfortunately, they may keep falling next year as two of their top relievers are up for free agency this year. 
