Although obtaining a starting pitcher is not the top priority of the Cubs, general manager Jim Hendry won't give up on getting right-hander Jake Peavy from the Padres.
The biggest obstacle, however, to adding any major players for 2009, is the budget. After a two-year unbridled spending spree, the Cubs are up against the budgetary wall when it comes to player payroll. Part of it is the ongoing sale of the club, which won't be finalized until sometime in 2009, and the financial straits the current owner, the Tribune Co., finds itself in.
That means the Cubs are going to have to be creative, both with players and with money, if they want Peavy. On the money end, the Cubs probably will have to find a taker for right-hander Jason Marquis, who has one year and $9,875,000 left on his three-year, $21 million deal. The Marquis problem is indicative of what the Cubs will face in the near future because of many back-loaded contracts. It's also quite likely the Cubs will have to eat part of Marquis' contract.
On the player front, the Cubs may not have the major league-ready young talent the Padres apparently want for Peavy. Third baseman Josh Vitters, the Cubs' first-round draft pick in 2007, is likely to go in any Peavy deal, but he's at least two years away from the big leagues, and the Cubs don't have much in the way of minor-leaguers knocking at the big-league door. Hendry may have to find a third team to help him facilitate a trade with the Padres for Peavy.
