Peavy Starts the Season for Wheeling, Dealing and Sabotage

With the news of Jake Peavy’s decision to nix a deal that would have sent him to the White Sox, one’s mind can’t help but wander to other instances in which players exercised either a no-trade clause or 10-5 rights.

Peavy’s refusal (which, according to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, would not have been a concern for the Red Sox) marks the third time since 2005 that the Padres have agreed to a trade, only to have it squashed by the player they were dealing. Phil Nevin killed a trade to the Orioles that would have landed Sidney Ponson in San Diego, and remember how close Boston was to beginning the Brian Giles era?

If early blogs are any indication, White Sox fans aren’t happy. Cubs fans can empathize if they choose to do to so, but on a much lower level. In 2003 the Cubs tried to load up for what proved to be a built-to-spill postseason run by re-acquiring Rafael Palmeiro.  The slugger turned down the deal, period.

Squashed deals break a fan’s heart. However, it’s not always such a bad thing.

#1 Trade Red Sox Fans Probably Wish was Vetoed (Note: this only applies to deals that a player could have vetoed.)

RANGERS GET:  Kason Gabbard, David Murphy, Engel Beltre

RED SOX GET: Eric Gagne

This was one that Sox fans were actually concerned might not happen back at the ’07 deadline.  Gagne was a legitimate candidate to kill this deal for two reasons: 1) He had a “games finished” incentive in his contract that wouldn’t be reached as a set-up man; and 2) He had taken the one-year deal in Texas so he could re-establish himself as a closer for the season. The Sox eventually paid him the $2.5 million he would have gotten from the incentive and Gagne agreed to come to Boston.  Then Eric Gagne in Boston happened.

The Sox brass didn’t give up much — Gabbard is now back in the Sox system, Murphy never had a place in Boston, and Beltre has yet to display an ability to get on base at a decent clip in A-ball — and they ended up getting a compensation pick (RHP Bryan Price) when Gagne left for the Brewers, but all in all, Gagne preemptively crushing this thing could have saved Yawkey Way a headache.

It’s only May and we’ve already gotten our first sniff of a blockbuster deal. The season for rumor-mongering is officially underway.

One Comments for “Peavy Starts the Season for Wheeling, Dealing and Sabotage”

1. Theodora Wolin Says:
   July 18th, 2010 at 7:20 pm

   Happy New Year 2010

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