Peavy Says No To Trade

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The San Diego Padres have agreed to send the ace, Jake Peavy, to the White Sox, and the teams were waiting to see if Peavy would waive his no-trade clause, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press.

Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, said he hadn't spoken to the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner since Wednesday afternoon, just before the pitcher went to the ballpark.

"My suspicion is he still has a strong preference to stay in the National League," Axelrod said.

"I know nothing more than I knew yesterday afternoon. I don't know if there's a deal in place, if a deal's close, or whatever. There was a question posed to us as to whether Jake's position on going to the American League was still cast in stone or whether he'd consent to going to an AL team, specifically, the White Sox."

Late Thursday Peavy announced he was staying on in San Diego.

The Padres, who lost 99 games last season and aren't expected to contend this year, have been cutting payroll. Peavy is to earn $11 million this season, $15 million in 2010, $16 million in 2011 and $17 million in 2012. The Padres have a $22 million option for 2013 with a $4 million buyout.

White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has expressed concern about spending big money in the current economic climate. Several older, high-paid players — including Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Jose Contreras and Octavio Dotel — can leave after this season, freeing up payroll for the most expensive part of Peavy's contract.

The White Sox are off to a slow start, but are expected to contend in the closely bunched AL Central.