White Sox 2009: Jake Peavy

At first Kenny Williams and the White Sox were never in the sweepstakes; all eyes were instead on Jim Hendry and the Cubs, who were in talks for the righty for months, dating back to the '08 season season. But then -- in typical Williams fasion -- he and White Sox not only entered the picture, but in May worked out a deal with the Padres.

The White Sox liked Peavy, the Padres liked the deal, Peavy ... wasn't on the same page and used his no trade clause to reject the deal. There were rumblings at the time that Peavy was hesitant to pitch in the AL, or at least with the White Sox. Turned out neither was the case. It was all about the timing, because two months and 10 days later, when the deal was forgotten, it presented itself again. Peavy agreed.

While the trade happened July 31, an ankle injury he sustained in June kept Peavy from making his White Sox debut until September 19. So while it was a deadline deal for a contending team, in the end it was more for the future.

Going Forward

If Peavy's three starts was a glimpe of the future -- and there is plenty of it with three years left on his contract -- things will be good. Peavy went 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA. More importantly, it was the how he did it. Peavy showed great command of both his fastball and slider, and was able to take off and add to both pitches. That should allow him to come up with a gameplan and adjust off it.

There's concern, however. Peavy's getting paid like an ACE, but is two years removed from actually being one and four years removed from back-to-back winning seasons. He's also spent his entire career in one of the better pitchers' park, in arguably the weakest-hitting division, that's in the weaker league. Then there is the amount of stress he puts on his shoulder, which will likely keep him out at some point over the next three years. It's all forgotten though when you watch him pitch, and compete. Time will tell.