DeRosa Trade: Towers Says Deal Is Off
UPDATE (1:44 p.m.): Corey Brock of MLB.com reports Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said the deal sending Jake Peavy to the Cubs is dead. He writes:
Towers said on Wednesday that he thought the only thing holding up the deal was the need for the Cubs to move one or two contracts — namely pitcher Jason Marquis and his $9.875 million salary and possibly second baseman Mark DeRosa and his $5.5 million salary for 2009.
The Phillies were said to want DeRosa and were thought to be willing to trade left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ, 26, who was 8-7 with a 3.60 ERA at Triple-A Lehigh Valley a year ago. Happ profiles as the kind of pitcher the Padres like — a strike-thrower with strong control — and one who could slide into the starting rotation in 2009.
There were some reports that a deal would include 24-year-old Kyle Kendrick, who was 11-9 with a 5.49 ERA with the Phillies last season.
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Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry says there’s no trade. From Bruce Miles:
On the Jake Peavy front, word out of the San Diego Padres camp is that GM Kevin Towers feels the ball is squarely in the Cubs’ court and that Towers hopes he knows by today whether the two teams have at least the makings of a trade.
Earlier this week, Towers had set today as the day he either wanted to see additional progress made or say Peavy would stay with the Padres. That doesn’t seem realistic, as San Diego ownership is serious about reducing its payroll.
“There’s no trade to talk about,” Hendry said.
