Author: Cork Gaines

6:10pm: Ken Rosenthal argues that Peavy's decision to nix the deal was justified, saying,  "If I were Jake Peavy, I would not go to the White Sox."

Rosenthal thinks back to the offseason, when the Padres "blew two chances" to trade Peavy. "The Braves clearly offered a better package than the White Sox. The Cubs' deal might have turned out better, too." He writes tha the longer the Padres take to deal Peavy, the less they will get in return.

Rosenthal has doubts about the White Sox's ability to compete in the future, and he says that this may have been on Peavy's mind when he rejected the trade.

5:53pm: Jon Heyman writes that Peavy will speak to the media shortly after 6pm CST. He also mentions that the White Sox were asked by the Padres earlier in the day if they had "any ideas on how to persuade" Peavy to accept the deal.

5:41pm: Joe Cowley and Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times are reporting that sources close to Peavy say that he has notified the Padres that he will not accept a trade to the White Sox.  Peavy talked it over with his family and decided not to make the move.  Manager Ozzie Guillen admitted he was surprised the Sox were willing to take on the $60MM commitment.

5:25pm: Via Twitter, Jon Heyman reports that the White Sox will not try to convince Peavy to agree to the deal by committing to pick up the $22MM option in his contract for 2013. This is still in Peavy's hands.

1:27pm: Gonzales has more from Linebrink about his conversation with Peavy.  Linebrink didn't see the AL/NL thing as a big concern for Peavy.

Also, Diamond Leung passes along a Ned Colletti interview with Dan Patrick today.  The Dodgers GM spoke to Towers about a Peavy trade as recently as a month ago but the asking price was too high.  Meanwhile the Red Sox have not been involved, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

12:47pm: Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Peavy will likely not be traded to the White Sox, presumably because he'll veto the deal if it reaches that point.  Krasovic notes that in addition to Poreda and Richard, Lance Broadway has been discussed.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times explains why the trade would make sense for the Sox and why it wouldn't.

12:21pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says beyond Poreda and Richard, the Padres would choose two players to be named later from a list of four.  Axelrod explained the situation to Rosenthal:

"Approval or disapproval is not necessarily black or white.  Depending on what is involved could make it more desirable or less desirable. There may be certain things he has to have as conditions. We're not near the point of talking about that, what he would want to see adjusted if he were to approve."

11:52am: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick talked to Axelrod, who gave the impression that Peavy is leaning against accepting the trade:

"If I had to make a bet on it, I would guess that Jake would say he's not ready to take that step today.  But he wouldn't necessarily preclude it at any time in the future."

Peavy maintains his strong preference for the NL.

11:31am: Brock talked to Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod.  Axelrod hasn't spoken to Peavy yet today, but was asked by the Padres "about Jake's feeling about the possibility of (playing for) the White Sox."

10:11am: ESPN's Peter Gammons says Beckham is not part of the deal.  CBS' Danny Knobler says it would be Poreda, Richard, and one or two others.  The others would also be pitchers, says Knobler.  Yahoo's Gordon Edes says the White Sox have agreed to send four pitching prospects including Poreda and Richard.

ESPN's Bruce Levine talked to White Sox pitcher and former Peavy teammate Scott Linebrink, who gave Peavy a 50-50 chance of accepting the deal.

9:39am: MLB.com's Corey Brock and Scott Merkin say Poreda and Clayton Richard are believed to be part of the deal.

9:19am: Jon Heyman says the White Sox and Padres have agreed to a Peavy trade, and await the pitcher's approval.  MLB.com's Corey Brock agrees.  Ken Williams, always operating under the radar.  Now we get to see just how much Peavy hates the AL.

Peavy is owed an additional $8.35MM this year, $15MM in '10, $16MM in '11, $17MM in '12, and a $4MM buyout for '13.  Total: $60.35MM guaranteed through 2012.  It is surprising to see the White Sox willing to take on such a commitment to a pitcher.

No idea if he's involved, but yes, the Sox could trade Gordon Beckham in this deal as a player to be named later.

9:09am: Via Gonzales on Twitter: "Waiting for approval from Peavy on SD trade, according to source."

6:51am: Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that the Padres are in discussions to send Jake Peavy to the White Sox.

According to Padres personnel, Peavy met with Padres manager Bud Black late Wednesday night to discuss a trade overture from the Sox.

It is apparently a four-player offer, which would presumably gut Chicago's farm system.  Peavy would have to approve any trade and according to Krasovic Peavy is telling people that the trade is "something to think about."  However, Krasovic says Peavy "may have reservations about pitching for Ozzie Guillen." 

MLB.com's Corey Brock asked Peavy about the rumor.  He said, "I only know what you guys [media] know."  Brock expects the Padres would require a frontline pitcher like Aaron Poreda.  Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald makes the Poreda link as well, but finds Peavy's contract prohibitive.  Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says the Padres had a scout watching the White Sox last weekend in Toronto.  Meanwhile, SI's Jon Heyman says Peavy still prefers the West or Midwest and the NL.  Heyman likes the Cubs or Brewers.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.  Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.