* Prior to rejecting the trade to Chicago yesterday, Peavy called ex-teammate and current White Sox reliever Scott Linebrink to ask him about playing for manager Ozzie Guillen.
* According to the Boston Globe, the Red Sox "were not involved in the recent round of talks for" Jake Peavy.
* When the Diamondbacks placed Conor Jackson on the disabled list last week they called his injury "general illness." Three doctors later Jackson has been diagnosed with valley fever and pneumonia. Asked yesterday when he might be ready to return, Jackson said: "We haven't even talked about timetable. One doctor told me, 'You're going to be fatigued for the rest of the year.'"
* Joba Chamberlain has been diagnosed with a bruised right knee after being hit by an Adam Jones liner last night and is "100 percent confident" that he'll make his next scheduled start Tuesday.
* Based on these pictures with Curtis Granderson and the Tigers, M.C. Hammer wants everyone to know that he remains 2 Legit 2 Quit.
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The most likely reason Peavy rejected the trade was because he didn't want to play in Chicago where that stadium is a ban-box for hitters.
This would threaten Peavy's reputation as a dominant pitcher and affect his eventual hall of fame chances etc..
If that stadium is a ban-box for hitters? Why did the White Sox have 3 starters last year with a ERA under 4?
Well, ERA isn't a very good stat to evaluate pitchers with, for one thing. And US Cellular is only a hitter's park when it comes to home runs, for another.
Aside from one year Peavy has averaged an ERA of around 2.50
Can he do this in the American league and in that park in Chicago?
Just because some White Sox pitchers have done well doesn't mean that Peavy can sustain his National League success in that park. That's why the agents push for the no-trade clause
Why anyone thought Peavy to the Red Sox was ever anything but ridiculous is beyond me. "Let's add another arm to the eight (soon to be nine) we have competing for five rotation spots." Makes sense...NO!
Wow, thats pretty ridiculous. The Sox won a WS based on great pitching a few years back. What is a good stat to evaluate pitchers if ERA isnt? and how does it impact Peavy's HE potential if he gave up a couple more HRs a year, if his ERA was still solid and he had potential to Win more games? (Wins are not a good stat for evaluating Pitchers but it is meaningful to HOF potential, in sticking with your theory) playing for anyone BUT the Padres.
You are pretty much saying that giving up HRs means you dont get into the HOF even if your ERA and Win total is solid. Not a fully thought out point. You should just admit you were reaching.
It might have been Guillen, or wanting to play for a contender, or staying on the West Coast or staying in the NL, but it wasnt the ballpark.
FIP is a great stat if you want something that looks like ERA. You can also just look at K/BB ratios and homers allowed for a pretty good picture. The problem with ERA is that it punishes you for bad luck and for playing in front of fielders with poor range (can't make an error if you can't get to the ball). It's been proven that pitchers can't really control anything but strikeouts, walks, and home runs (by keeping the ball on the ground, most typically). There are exceptions, but we're talking about a 20 or 30 point swing in batting average on balls in play (not all that much) from one extreme to the other.
If you're a flyball pitcher like Peavy and you suddenly switch from a park that suppresses homers more than any other to one that allows them at an above-average rate (in the stronger league), your numbers can get pretty mediocre pretty quickly.
ERA regresses toward FIP over time, so a career ERA is relatively helpful to look at. And if Peavy starts allowing 40% more homers (or whatever) than he does now, his ERA will start to look a lot worse.