Like a cold in the middle of winter, some things are just hard to shake.  So it is with trade rumors when it comes to Chicago Cubs baseball.

Last year, if you remember, it was Baltimore’s Brian Roberts that was dangled in front of Cubdom from December through March as the left-handed bat and lead-off hitter the team so desperately needs.  Instead the trade that never happened left the Cubs with perhaps baseball’s worst lead-off batter and one of the game’s premier post-season chokes in Alfonso Soriano.

Guess what?  Roberts is back and this time he has a rumor mate.

San Diego pitcher and 2007 Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy is the latest to join the on-again, off-again merry-go-round that has become a regular regimen of Cubs off-season trade rumors.  For now, according to reports, Peavy to the Cubs is on again.

And Roberts may be part of the deal.  According to a report from the Baltimore Sun, Roberts would be part of a deal that would send beleaguered Chicago outfielder Felix Pie to the Orioles for starting pitcher Garrett Olson, whom the Cubs would then trade to the Padres as part of a deal for Peavy.

Sound confusing? While it may be, it’s not nearly as baffling as to why Cubs gm Jim Hendry would be pursuing another starting pitcher.

Just two weeks ago, Chicago’s starting staff appeared to be solid - at least according to Cubs manager Lou Piniella.

”No. Starting we don’t need,” Piniella said. “We’re set. We’ve got six good starters [including Sean Marshall], and they’re all experienced. Getting Dempster back was the key. We’re in good shape with our starting pitching. Bullpen-wise, [we’re looking for] possibly one more experienced pitcher. We’ve got a lot of young kids out there.”

Piniella’s statement raises an even bigger question whether or not Peavy finds a home with the Cubs in 2009: What is it about the staff that Hendry doesn’t like or isn’t telling us?

Is it a question of the soundness of an arm or two - most notably Rich Harden or Carlos Zambrano?  Or is it a lack of trust in his middle relief that might require his starters to pitch more innings in 2009?  Or would Peavy be a piece in even a bigger deal?

Baseball’s winter meetings start on Monday and while they no longer seem to be the blockbuster event they had been, they’ve proven to be the place where the foundation for acquisitions are laid.  And the place where rumors either die a quick death or pick up speed.

For now it appears Peavy is part of Chicago Cubs baseball.  Whether he’s still there in a week or two is anyone’s guess.