Two months ago, a trade rumor involving Jake Peavy and the Brewers was shot down by Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin. But Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says don't be surprised if the Brewers do indeed enter the sweepstakes.

The Padres appear to be seeking young pitching prospects and, says Haudricourt, the Brewers do not have that to offer. Further, Melvin has said he has no interest in trading Mat Gamel or Alcides Escobar, his top prospects. Still, the price for Peavy may come down "as suitors fall by the wayside" (i.e. possibly the entire AL) and Haudricourt repeatedly notes Brewers owner Mark Attanasio's financial creativity could make a deal plausible for the Brewers.

MLBTR posted a handy round up of what we know about Peavy and the Padres. And from yesterday's Odds & Ends: JorgeSaysNo! reiterates that the Brewers are a "perfect fit" for Jake Peavy, and Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com's "Circling The Bases" believes Milwaukee will need to move quickly in order to land him.

What would you do if you were Doug Melvin? Would you include Escobar or Gamel? Do the Brewers have the pitching prospects? Could Evan Anundsen or Jeremy Jeffress be part of a package?

Your Saturday afternoon links, with more to come...

• JorgeSaysNo! reiterates that the Brewers are a "perfect fit" for Jake Peavy, and Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com's "Circling The Bases" believes Milwaukee will need to move quickly in order to land him.
• As Mark Sheldon of MLB.com points out, Jonny Gomes is set to make his debut with the Reds this evening.  He showed good faith in the club when he accepted an assignment to Triple-A at the end of spring training, and that faith has now been rewarded.  
• Ricky Nolasco was demoted to Triple-A New Orleans this morning after beginning the season with a 9.07 ERA, 1.81 WHIP and 2-5 record.  R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs examines what the 26-year-old has been doing wrong.
• David Price finally got the call.  He'll start Monday against the Indians and R.J. Anderson of DRaysBay highlights a few things to monitor.
• Athletics Nation asks the question: "Where will the A's find greatness?" 
• As Tim noted earlier this week, there are now several ways to keep up with the action here on MLBTR.  You can join the Facebook fan page, follow us on Twitter, sign up for the RSS feed, and even get updates on your mobile phone.

The trade that nearly sent Jake Peavy to the White Sox has provided lots of rumors to sift through and lots of opinions to mull over. Now that the frenzy's over let's lay out what we actually know:

• Peavy will make $15MM next year, $16MM in 2011 and $17MM in 2012. There's a club option for $22MM in 2013, with a $4MM buyout. 
• The Padres want to move him because he's expensive, but he has a full no-trade clause this year.
• Peavy says he's "not closing the door on anything" with the White Sox, according to Bernie Wilson of the AP. 
• Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune says the White Sox are leaving the deal on the table in case Peavy changes his mind.
• Peavy sounds open to the possibility of being traded, hinting that he'd consider moving to another city.  
• Cities in "Middle America" are more appealing to Peavy, as SI.com's Jon Heyman reported yesterday. Also, he prefers the National League. 
• As ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports, the Cubs still have interest in Peavy.
• Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune suggests that the Cubs could pursue Peavy if their ownership transition progresses before the end of July. 
• For what it's worth, Peavy praised Cubs fans and the organization. 

MLB.com's Scott Merkin spoke with White Sox GM Kenny Williams about the team's plan in the aftermath of the Jake Peavy deal that never happened. Some highlights:

• Williams said "a number of clubs" are trying to obtain White Sox starters, particularly their young ones. However, he said "it's not happening. We've got faith in John Danks and Gavin Floyd."
• Williams said he wants to improve the White Sox, but he doesn't sound confident that he can find the necessary players and trading partners easily.
• Sounds like the Sox have financial flexibility. At least taking on Peavy's salary was "not too much of a stretch."
• Williams said he doesn't begrudge Peavy for not accepting deal. 
• There's no Plan B for the White Sox right now, but Williams said he's working on it.

On this date seven years ago, the A's traded Jeremy Giambi to the Phillies for John Mabry. At the time of the deal, Giambi was hitting .274/.390/.471 with 8 home runs and Mabry was essentially a pinch-hitter. Giambi would go on to hit 12 more home runs for the Phils but would play only one more season in the big leagues. As rumors start to fly in the '09 season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere...

• Fire Ned Colletti Now would be happy to see a team other than the Dodgers trade for Jake Peavy.
• Jorge Says No! says the Brewers should look into trading for Jake Peavy.
• McCovey Chronicles takes a look at some deadline deal possibilities for the Giants, including Matt Holliday, Carl Crawford and Ichiro.
• The Rays Party notes that Jason Isringhausen makes for a crowded bullpen which may indicate that the Devil Rays ($29) are about to make a deal.
• Phlavio's Corner takes a look at some options to replace Carlos Delgado.
• Around the Majors takes a look back at the Brad Lidge extension and wonders if it was a mistake.
• Bleeding Blue and Teal would like to see the Mariners make a deal for Ben Zobrist.
• The Detroit Tigers Weblog now admits that the Edwin Jackson-Matt Joyce trade may have been good for the Tigers.
• MLB Notebook sees a few possible trade destinations for Adrian Beltre including both Chicago franchises.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here (cork@raysindex.com), and on Twitter here.

Jon Heyman of SI.com has a number of rumors in his latest column:

• He believes the Cubs and Brewers have the best shot at acquiring Jake Peavy, because of the pitcher's preference for the National League and his desire to play in "middle America." Heyman believes Peavy would accept a deal to either team, but there are never guarantees with a no-trade clause.
• The Yankees and Indians both say they cannot add payroll.  
• One AL executive believes Pedro Martinez would sign for $3MM plus incentives at this point.  
• The Rangers would listen to offers for Hank Blalock and ask for relief help in return. 

More rumors from ESPN.com's Peter Gammons in his latest column:

• Gammons says it made sense for Kenny Williams to try to deal for Jake Peavy because the AL Central is winnable and Gordon Beckham wasn't part of the deal.
• Gammons expects teams to be wary of no-trade clauses after seeing Peavy thwart the Padres' plans to deal him.  
• Nats GM Mike Rizzo wants to deal now, while more teams are in the pennant race and remain possible buyers.  
• Rizzo would like to improve his bullpen, which has an ERA nearing 7.00. 
• The Red Sox want to wait on David Ortiz and plan on giving him the chance to start hitting. He finally homered this week, but has struck out in seven of his last 20 plate appearances. 
• Gammons believes it makes sense for the Cardinals to see if the Red Sox have interest in Khalil Greene.  
• Billy Beane may face a limited market for Matt Holliday if he decides to trade the left fielder in July. 

According to Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald the Red Sox are reluctant to go after Jake Peavy because he's owed lots of money and they question his durability and how well he'd transition into the AL East. The Red Sox have a deep rotation anyways, especially with Daisuke Matsuzaka set to return and John Smoltz rehabbing, so I doubt they were that interested to begin with.

In the aftermath of the failed White Sox-Padres swap that would have sent Peavy to Chicago, there are other reactions from around the majors:

• MLB.com's Todd Zolecki wonders if it would be smart for the Phillies to acquire Peavy. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. declined to comment on the chances of making such a deal happen.
• Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cubs GM Jim Hendry didn't comment when asked about re-starting talks to acquire the righty. Ryan Theriot sounds excited about pursuing Peavy.
• Yahoo's Jeff Passan writes that Peavy made the right call, since the White Sox are no sure thing.