ANAHEIM, Calif. - Just in case there were some White Sox fans still holding onto that Jake Peavy hope - let your hands go and embrace the fall.
"I think it is [dead],'' Sox reliever Scott Linebrink insisted on Wednesday.
Linebrink would know. After all, he was given the recruiting responsibilities by general manager Ken Williams to talk to Peavy - who he played with in his San Diego days.
"I saw and read that maybe there was some hope still being held out there for a deal to happen with him in the future, but the second time I talked to Jake after he rejected it, he expressed to me that he felt comfortable being in the National League,'' Linebrink added. "It wasn't he was necessarily afraid to come to the American League, but when you've been in a league and you get to know it, especially being a starting pitcher, it's probably a bit more comfortable to stay over there.
"The thing I did express to him again was that no matter where you do go - because I think it's pretty inevitable that he's being traded - you might want to get this thing behind you as quickly as possible so you can get somewhere and get acclimated as soon as possible. I certainly know what it's like to have a trade rumor hanging over your head, and you certainly don't want that to be a distraction for the rest of the season. That was the last time we talked, about a week ago.''