I have to think yesterday was about as eventful a December 9 for the Cubs as December 9 can be for any MLB team.  The Cubs owner, the Tribune Company, announced it would file bankruptcy, which amazingly, seems like it will not affect the Cubs’ moves this offseason (Cubs not handcuffed by ownership situation).  Then, the Cubs were involved indirectly in the charges levied on the governor of Illinois, Ron Blagojevich, that led to his arrest (Chicago Cubs Become Pawn).  I haven’t even mentioned the story that had me refreshing Google News once every two minutes yesterday.

A lot of Peavy drama yesterday.  It’s amazing how when there is a lack of hard news, we are forced to turn to second hand rumor and speculation, which inevitably affects the situation itself.  Yesterday started with a consensus that the Cubs and Padres were on the right track to a deal, which, around noon, got bumped up to the Cubs and Padres “very close” to completing a deal.  It seems as though the Cubs organization caught wind of the story, and felt it necessary to proactively come out and refute this report by the Sun-Times.  I could theorize all day about the motivation behind this move.  Were they trying to send a message to the Padres?  Were they trying to lower fan expectations (think “under promise and over deliver”)?  Were they actually telling the truth?  I think it was probably a combination of all three.  I think the Cubs felt they needed to make some progress on the LH right fielder and Jason Marquis front before they felt comfortable moving forward on Peavy.  Regardless, talks are ongoing, and there are no other takers for Peavy out there, so I’m still pretty confident.

Let’s get to the links!

-Peavy deal awaits Cubs decision-This article suggests again that the ball is in the Cubs court.  Also, it mentions both Marquis and DeRosa as involved in the trade, and also says the Cubs “may be closing in on Milton Bradley” while also mentioning the more expensive Bobby Abreu.  If a deal gets done with Bradley or Abreu, does that mean the Peavy trade is on the horizon? 

-Padres and Cubs making progress-I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do or not, but I sure am glad Kevin Towers speaks so openly about what’s going on, sure makes sifting through rumors more substantial when you read actual quotes from a GM.  This article came after the Cubs shot down the “very close” talk, and Towers said “It looks more likely today.”  The story also points to Marquis as the hang up in getting the deal done.  I was also interested to read that Sean Marshall was “off the table”, but that Angél Guzmán was not.

-Phils serious about DeRosa-Rumors yesterday repeatedly mentioned moving DeRosa as a part of the Peavy deal.  Let’s hope this rumored deal ends differently than the last much rumored deal Mark DeRosa was involved in.

-Jake Peavy wants to be a Cub-This is from yesterday morning, and it involves Jake Peavy singing at a bar and has a picture of Peavy’s wife, so I’d say it’s worth a look.

All in all, it’s pretty amazing that a team that won 97 games last year is such a player in the offseason.  I guess that it is telling in two ways: first, the Cubs are committed to winning; second, the playoffs were really, really bad.