Jake Peavy has gone from a possible back-up plan for the Cubs if the front office is not able to sign Jon Lester to telling the Sun-Times that he and Lester are a “package deal” for any team. Peavy and Lester are very close and while he would not confirm his interest in the Cubs with the Sun-Times, Gordon Wittenmyer’s sources indicate the Cubs are “at the top of his wish list.”
Peavy told the Sun-Times, “Me and Jon are obviously very close. If there was ever a fit with both of us on the team, certainly that would interest me. I know what he brings to the table. We have a crazy good friendship, and I know how bad he wants to win, and I know he’s not going to go to a situation for however many years he signs to lose.”
Peavy added, “Chicago would interest him and interest me.”
The report also indicated there are those with the team that “aren’t especially optimistic they’ll land Lester because of a potentially crazy bidding process for the power lefty.”
Jake Peavy, like the rest of the baseball world, can see what is going on with the Cubs. With young, impact talent already on the roster and with more on the way, the Cubs have a chance to be good and win a lot of games in the very near future.
Peavy has a good relationship with Rick Renteria from their days together in San Diego and it would not matter to Peavy if Renteria or Joe Maddon was calling the shots.
Jake Peavy is believed to be on the Cubs radar as well as one of a group of second-tier starting pitching options. James Shields, Jason Hammel and Justin Masterson have also been connected to the Cubs as possibly the second of the two pitchers the front office would like to add to the roster this winter.
According to the Sun-Times, Peavy is “the kind of veteran presence the Cubs are trying to add to their clubhouse.”
The Giants are expected to make a big push to re-sign Jake Peavy and he could be looking at a deal in the three-year, $36 million range. Peavy has helped his stock since the trade from Boston to San Francisco.
The Cubs are going to be connected to every free-agent starting pitcher this off-season. It is well-known the Cubs have the payroll flexibility and the prospect currency to acquire pitching on the free agent market or via trade.
“If you are here to compete which means you need depth, you need impact, you need back-up plans, you need redundancy,” Theo Epstein said.
While the Cubs primary target still appears to be Jon Lester, there are other options behind Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields that Chris Bosio could work with and get the most out of their ability in order to help the Cubs win ballgames.