Farewell to Peavy

I have waited a bit to write this in an effort to stay somewhat even keeled.

Let me just say right off that I love Jake Peavy. I love watching him pitch, watching him yell at himself, watching him throw his body into his delivery and recklessly diving whenever the need arises. Even in the batters box, he wasn't giving anything up. He is the epitome of competitiveness, just an absolute joy to have on your side in a baseball game.

I just happened to be at his very impressive debut versus the Yankees at Qualcomm, and dozens of other starts since then. I still feel the sting of the strike (check swing or called, either way it was a strike dammit) that wasn't called in Arizona that prevented him from tying Seavers 10 consecutive strikeout record. I fully believed he would be the guy to throw the Pads first no-no. And I wouldn't have cared if he was taking up 30% of the teams payroll next year, he is fun to watch. He is entertaining all by himself.

When the trade first was announced, the first I saw was a Jon Heyman tweet at mlbtraderumors.com, I literally thought it was a mistake. Jon's tweet device must have submitted old data somehow, there is no way Peavy was sent to the White Sox AGAIN?!? We went down that road in May, he rejected it, the very thought of it made me laugh at the sheer impossibility of it. Had to be a mistake. Well, clearly it wasn't a mistake.

But I am not one of those I'll-never-watch-the-Pads-again reactionaries. I'm not cancelling my season tickets. And I'm not one to think that, from the outside looking in, that I could do a better job than the front office. It is not my job to construct the roster and it is not my job to balance the revenues versus expenses. So I don't worry about it. I watch and cheer on the Padres, whoever they may be. That is my sole job as a fan.

So to Jake, I will miss watching you play on a start by start basis. I wish you the best of luck in everything you do, and hope you are wildly successful with the ChiSox and beyond.

Onto the future. This season has been about 2010 since about the second week of April, and lately the front office has added many pieces to the puzzle. Let's hope a few of these guys pan out and make an impact.