As it turns out, the Cubs did not obtain left-handed pitcher Garrett Olson from the Baltimore Orioles to turn around and package him to the San Diego Padres for Jake Peavy.
That was all the speculation on Jan. 18, when general manager Jim Hendry traded center fielder Felix Pie to the Orioles for Olson and a minor-league pitcher. It turns out that the Cubs turned around and traded Olson, but to the Seattle Mariners (along with infielder Ronny Cedeno) for right-handed pitcher Aaron Heilman, whom the Cubs plan to have compete for the fifth starter's spot. Assistant general manager Randy Bush was quick to shoot down any speculation that the Cubs were interested in re-opening talks with Peavy again after original talks "died" at the winter meetings.
"You certainly can't close your eyes, and you can't ever say, 'Oh, we're done,'" Bush said. "We're not going to do that now. You can't do that. We've had no talks about Jake Peavy since they were well documented during the winter meetings. There's been nothing to add with that. No talks. There have been no talks with that, and I don't anticipate anything happening with that."
Complicating matters with any potential Peavy deal is that the club is in the middle of being sold, with the Ricketts family having exclusive negotiating rights now. If front man Tom Ricketts can agree with the Tribune Co., the next stop will be bankruptcy court (the Tribune Co. has filed for bankruptcy) and then Major League Baseball.
The Cubs hope to have the club sold by Opening Day, and no deal for Peavy is likely before then.
The Cubs expect Heilman to compete for the fifth starter's spot along with lefty Sean Marshall and righties Jeff Samardzija and Chad Gaudin, both of whom worked out of the pen last year.
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