Are the Cubs still interested? Of course. Have they laid groundwork to make a potential deal for Peavy by creating payroll space with the exits of Mark DeRosa andJason Marquis, and by adding pitching-prospect inventory with the trade of Felix Pie? Absolutely.

But does that mean this deal can get revived sometime soon? Not necessarily, because there are still major ownership issues. And no matter how much the folks at MLB might want to get the Cubs' sale approved by Opening Day, the timetable isn't solely in its hands.

"I don't think we're anywhere near as close to resolving the ownership situation as it looks," said one baseball man with knowledge of those machinations. "You have to remember [the seller, the Tribune Company] is in bankruptcy court. So if somebody comes along and says, 'We offered more money,' the court can say, 'You have to take the most money.' So there's no way of saying right now whether this gets resolved in two to three months or six to eight months."