White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy knows something about fleeing San Diego's PETCO Park for greener pastures.
Peavy was dealt to Chicago at the deadline last summer to join the White Sox, who had won 89 games and earned a spot in the postseason a season before.
Despite Peavy going 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA after the deal, the south siders ended up winning just four more games than the Padres did last summer. But that's not stopping Peavy from lobbying for his slugging former teammate, Adrian Gonzalez. Peavy recently told reporters that Chicago is Gonzalez' kind of town and that he is "disheartened" by what's going on in San Diego.
“Adrian wants to win — I can tell you that,” Peavy told The San Diego Tribune of Gonzalez. “If it means leaving San Diego, he won’t think twice about doing that. I can promise you that.”
These comments surprised Gonzalez, who is under contract through the end of 2010 with a $5.5 million option for 2011, which has yet to be exercised.
“It was definitely out of the blue,” Gonzalez told the Union-Tribune in Arizona. “Mainly, I was telling my wife, ‘It’s kinda nice to hear an ex-teammate think that highly of you to think you can help their team.’ But I can’t control any of that. That’s not a subject I’m gonna talk about because it’s not something in which I’m involved.
“I’m gonna tell everybody the same thing, because it’s the truth: I don’t have any control over it. You can come and ask me, but you’re not gonna get anything out of me, because I’m not the guy to talk to. You want to talk about my situation with the team, talk with Jed [Hoyer] and the guys up there, because I’ve got no say in it.”
Hoyer, the former Red Sox assistant general manager, remains tight-lipped about the rumors, as well.
“We are not going to comment on player negotiations,” Hoyer told the paper via e-mail. ��Adrian is under contract for two more seasons with the Padres and ongoing dialogue about the status of extension discussions can only serve as a distraction to the team and to the player.”
Another player that has been brought up in regards to the trade rumors has been Yankees' first baseman Mark Teixeira. According to Gonzalez's agent John Boggs, the slugger is seeking a contract similar to Teixeira's eight-year, $180 million deal.
“This is a premium ballplayer,” said Boggs, "If you think you can get it done, he’s obviously somebody who’s movable. I never try to dissolve the possibility [of a deal with the Padres], but I don’t see any signs.”
