35-year-old pitcher has put his career on hold after a hellish 12 months that included losing millions in a Ponzi scheme and going through a divorce

It's been a rough year for veteran MLB pitcher Jake Peavy.

As detailed by ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, Peavy is currently unsigned and waiting to sort out some personal matters before joining a team.

According to Crasnick, last February, Peavy fell victim to a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a financial investor named Ash Narayan, who took money that was supposed to go into "conservative investments" and funneled it into a failed ticketing business.

The investigation went on through the 2016 MLB season while Peavy was with the San Francisco Giants and often required him to meet with lawyers and FBI agents between practices and games. Peavy said the ordeal took a mental toll on him.

 

"It turned my whole world upside-down. For the first time ever, it was hard to give my 150 percent focus, time and energy to baseball. It was such a tough year, because everything I have built and played for was jeopardized to some degree. When you've known people your whole life and career and they let you down and they're not who you thought you were, it's devastating.

"It turned me into a person I never wanted to be. People would text me and I'd say, 'What does this person want from me? What's their motive?' I had numerous relationships for 10-15 years with people who let me and my family down in a huge way."

 

According to Crasnick, Peavy lost "millions" in the ordeal.

To make matters worse, after the Giants' season ended, Peavy returned home where his wife asked for a divorce. Peavy is still going through the legal process while tending to his sons, according to Crasnick.

 

"I'm not shying away from getting divorced. It's not something I'm proud of or something I wanted or asked for, but it happened and I'm dealing with that. But I also have four boys I'm responsible for in life, and I just feel deep down that it's in my best interests and my family's interests to be there through this time.

"When I sign with a team, I'm all in. For me to leave right now with so much uncertainty in my life, it wouldn't be fair to an organization and it wouldn't be the right thing to do as far as being a dad."

 

People around baseball still believe Peavy has something to offer to the game.

Peavy told Crasnick that he will return to baseball, as it's more than just a job to him. Hopefully, in the meantime, he can get his life straightened out after a rough year.