So while there haven’t been many offseason rumors concerning Jake Peavy, GM Will Keathley pulled the trigger today on a deal that brings the Cubs one step closer to a World Series appearance. The Cubs added the potent bat of Gary Sheffield to the mix today, giving up solid OF Shannon Stewart and one time contributers RHP Kyle Snyder (16 wins on ‘03 all of ‘04 in AAA) and RHP Kyle Farnsworth (Cubs closer less than 2 seasons ago, most of ‘04 in A ball). So on the surface the Cubs aren’t giving up much to add an offensive weapon like Sheffield. The issues with Gary have been his attitude, his fielding and his contract. The Cubs plan to take care of the first two by penciling him in at Third Base, his favorite and best position. As for the contract, he’s owed 67 million over the next 5 years, the Cubs feel that the addition of Farnsworth to the deal make the money a non-issue. Stewart(15/4) and Farnsworth(26.475/5) were owed 41.475 million over the next 5 seasons, so the addition of Sheffield will cost the Cubs 25.5 million or just over 5 million a season for the next 5 years.

Keathley told us that last years 2st round pick Mark Teahan will move to LF next season to accomodate the addition of Sheffield at 3rd. “It weakens our D at 3rd, but improves in in left, so we’re ok with that trade-off, especially considering the offense will be upgraded tremendously at both positions” Keathley said.

When asked if this deal meant the Cubs were done adding payroll this offseason, Keathley proclaimed “Ownership has given me approval to make any deal that makes us a better ballclub, we’ve got some huge contracts (Sosa’s 17 million) coming off the books soon and the goal is the win the world series at any cost.