The Rumors That Will Not Die

Ken Rosenthal brings back the Yankees-Peavy rumors.

A Peavy trade, however, would be more complicated for the Yankees than it would be for his preferred National League clubs, the Braves and Cubs. For starters, Peavy -- who holds a full no-trade clause -- might not want to play in New York.

And the Yankees, after trading five young pitchers in recent deals for Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte, might simply prefer to spend on free agents.

Rosenthal makes two very good observations here that show why if the Yankees get Peavy it will be regarded as the deal of the year.

First, the Yankees already moved Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen, and Jeff Marquez from the MLB bullpen and AAA rotation.  Add in the loss of Jhonny Nunez and Jose Tabata and it's easy to feel like the Yanks have been jetisonning prospects like the '80s.

But, as Chad Jennings recently opined on his SWB Blog, there are about 8 different pitchers who could be fighting for starts in Scranton: Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, Alan Horne, Phil Hughes, Kei Igawa, Ian Kennedy, George Kontos, and Chase Wright.  While I figure at least 2 of these guys will break camp in the MLB pen (Horne and Coke?), that still leaves 6 guys who could make at least an MLB spot-start, and a couple who have the potential to fill a hole. 

So while the Yankees have been trading from their depth, it's still a significant depth.

Second, Brian Cashman has already proven that he's not willing to trade prospects just to dole out money.  He resisted trading for Santana last off-season and for Sabathia at the deadline.  So, for NY to become Peavy's destination, the Padres would have to accept a somewhat lesser deal.

Lesser is a relative term, though, so I would think Hughes, Melky/Gardner, and one of the guys listed as AAA possibles.  The Padres once showed interest in Kei Igawa: they've got a big ball park to hold fly balls and somewhere there's a pitching coach who thinks he's good enough to make Igawa's swing and miss stuff overcome his high and far results.

I'm filing any Peavy-Yankee rumors under "unlikely"  until I see the presser on YES.