The Weekend Buzz while you were firing up the chicken and burgers on Memorial Day weekend (and, just maybe, taking your daughter and her friends to see Taylor Swift in concert for a special birthday treat). ...
1. Jake-in' it: Jake Peavy, who fired six shutout innings at the Cubs on Friday night after rejecting a trade to the White Sox a day earlier, is not the bad guy here. He may be labeled as such by White Sox fans. He may be viewed in some parts as a guy who is afraid to pitch in the American League.
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| 'I hate that the team's in a tough spot,' Jake Peavy says. (US Presswire) |
He signed his current deal with the Padres for less than market value, partly because he wanted to give them a chance to build a winner around him. He was given a no-trade clause in return.
So now, just because the Padres are still above owner John Moores' mandated $40 million payroll, he's supposed to not use it?
We rip players all the time for lacking loyalty to their old clubs while jumping toward the biggest dollars on the free-agent market. Now, here's a guy who's actually attempting to live up to his contract -- it's the club that changed the ground under him -- and, tell me why there's something wrong with that?
"I hate that the team's in a tough spot. But I believe I'm not the reason for that," Peavy told CBSSports.com over the weekend. "When I signed this contract, things were different.
"I understand that over the course of time, things change. But I have to make the best decision for me and my family. And that's not easy. I'm going someplace for the next three or four years of my life."
Make no mistake: Peavy will be traded, and sooner rather than later. The Padres made that abundantly clear by putting the deal with the White Sox into place after winning their fifth in a row, thoroughly demoralizing their own clubhouse.
Behind the scenes, sources say, the Padres leaned hard on Peavy to accept the White Sox deal, asking him to "help them out."
"It's embarrassing," one player said. "It's May 20. May 20."
As this bad soap opera drags on, the Padres are losing leverage. Their best deal so far was the one Atlanta offered in November, which included shortstop Yunel Escobar, outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, a starting pitcher (Charlie Morton or Jo Jo Reyes) and a reliever. There are those who say Peavy wouldn't have accepted a deal to Atlanta, but maybe the Braves could have convinced him.
Regardless, that ship long ago sailed, a deal with the Cubs died in December and now this. With every team that comes and goes, like the White Sox, the Padres' potential trading pool lessens and the odds decrease that they're going to get a package even as desirable as what the Braves or Cubs offered over the winter.
"I think so," one general manager told me this week.
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He is due $63 million between now and 2013. That last year is where it gets interesting, in relation to a potential trade: In 2013, he's due a $22 million salary or a $4 million club buyout. The guess here is that one of the conditions for Peavy to waive his no-trade clause will be the receiving team being asked to guarantee that $22 million salary in '13.
The Cubs are expected to come back to the Padres once their ownership situation is settled. One big-league executive told me this month that he knows for a fact that Cubs' general manager Jim Hendry and prospective new majority owner Tom Ricketts recently discussed Peavy internally yet again.
Meantime, it's becoming clear that Philadelphia is going to have to add starting pitching this summer. Given that hitter-friendly ballpark, it's doubtful that Peavy would accept a trade there (Greg Maddux declined the Phillies when the Padres tried to deal him there last summer). Those close to the Padres and Peavy still say the Cubs and Dodgers remain his desired locations.
Regardless, Peavy knows it won't be long until he's approached by the Padres with another trade proposal ... and probably another one after that, and another one after that if he continues to reject them. But sources say he's resigned to the fact that his days with the Padres are numbered, and it's only a matter of time until he's packing his bags.
"I do have the ultimate decision," Peavy told CBSSports.com. "I'm not pulling rank. I'm just saying that things happen, and things get done. And as they do, I'll sit down with the people in my life, and we'll make an educated decision."
2. Lou's crew's blues: The pool now is formally open: What's your date for Cubs manager Lou Piniella to stage one of his classic hair-curling, teeth-rattling meltdowns? The Cubs completed their worst road trip in three years with a 7-2 clunker Sunday in San Diego, leaving them 0-6 through St. Louis and San Diego and with a seven-game losing streak overall. They scored five runs in the six games on the road and batted an embarrassing .160 (30-for-187). Granted, slugger Aramis Ramirez is on the disabled list, but this is ridiculous.
"We've got to turn it around," first baseman Derrek Lee says. "We're not playing well, we're not swinging the bats, we're not getting it done. There are no excuses for going this long and swinging the bats the way we have."
3. Yankee Doodle Bandbox : The new Yankee Stadium set a record with 87 home runs in its first 23 games, most ever for a new park so soon. Apparently, it's so easy to hit a home run there that Alex Rodriguez can even do it without steroids.
4. Rampaging Yankees: They went 8-2 on the homestand that ended Sunday and have won 10 of their past 12 games (including a nine-game winning streak). The Cardiac Yanks lead the majors with 17 come-from-behind victories -- nine of those wins in their last at-bat, and six of those as "walk-off" wins. And those three consecutive bottom-of-the-ninth muggings of the Twins that kicked off this homestand last weekend? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Yankees collected three consecutive "walk-off" wins came in July, 1972 against Kansas City (twice) and Texas (once).
5. Interleague play returns: Great. A whole new batch of teams gets to beat up on the Nationals.
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| Randy Johnson's Seattle return was special for all. (Getty Images) |
"He asked Lou [Piniella, Seattle's manager at the time] and Lou was like, 'OK, go out there,'" Griffey said. "I was like, 'Huh?' I was definitely going to let him have everything when he was out there. I've gotta see how much ground he can cover.
"He did tell me that he's got the balls up high, because he's taller."
Piniella smiled when asked about the event -- and professed to have zero memory of it.
"But if Junior says it happened, I'm sure it did," Piniella said, chuckling. "Junior remembers trivia."
So does Baseball-Reference.com.
7. Santana and (not so) Smooth: The lefty beat Boston on Friday despite the Mets again developing a bad case of the butterfingers behind him. Of 35 Mets errors this season, they've committed 12 with Johan Santana on the mound. Of Santana's 17 runs allowed, only 10 of them have been earned. Last year the Mets bullpen cost him a Cy Young award. This year, the Mets' defense apparently is attempting to block him.
8. No more old Milwaukee: In the old days, the Brewers lost. And lost. And in the old days, even if they had figured out a way to add CC Sabathia to Ben Sheets (which they wouldn't have), and then lost both of them, they would have entered another decade of drought. No more. The tough weekend in Minnesota notwithstanding, the seven consecutive wins last week positioned Ken Macha's club squarely in the thick of things in the NL Central. The Brewers' 14 road wins this season trailed only Philadelphia (16) in the majors.
9. Michael Cuddyer hits for cycle: Less than two months after Jason Kubel did it, Michael Cuddyer on Friday night turned the trick. And you thought Minnesota was called "Twins" for no apparent reason? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Cuddyer and Kubel became the first set of teammates to hit for the cycle in the same season since Vladimir Guerrero and Brad Wilkerson did it for Montreal in 2003. The only other Twins twins to hit for the cycle were Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock in 1976.
10. Marlins demote Nolasco: Stunner of the weekend. Ricky Nolasco was the club's opening day starter, he was 15-8 with a 3.52 ERA last year ... and his ERA is up to 9.07 this year and opponents are hitting .344 against him. In fact, Kansas City liked the idea so much that the Royals demoted Luke Hochevar a day later ... and Baltimore liked the idea so much the O's released Adam Eaton. It's not early anymore. It's Memorial Day Weekend, time to get down to business.
