San Diego Padres: Money Saved in Moving Peavy to Chicago

After all the talk about the Padres possibly trading Adrian Gonzalez or Heath Bell, it shocked all of us Padre fans when Twitter went crazy with a trade that the Padres had made with the Chicago White Sox.

My first thought was, there was no way that Peavy would accept this deal the second time around after turning it down back in May. But low and behold, confirmed by Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod during an interview with Darren Smith of XX Sports Radio in San Diego, Peavy did accept the trade and he is now a member of the Chicago White Sox.

This was a deal that took Jake completely by surprise, saying as much during a press conference after the trade was completed. 

"I was sleeping at 12:20 p.m. this afternoon with my middle son, Wyatt. I did not think it was going to happen," Peavy told reporters during the press conference. "This thing happened in around 40 minutes."

Though Peavy was taken by surprise, he didn't hold anything against San Diego for trading him, saying at one point during the press conference, "we knew this was inevitable, whether it was during this season or during the winter meetings, this was bound to happen."

Ironically, Peavy was traded to Chicago on the exact day that long time closer Trevor Hoffman made his return to San Diego as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. Hoffman received a huge ovation from the Padre faithful during a video tribute prior to the start of the game.

One of the players coming to San Diego in the deal, Clayton Richard (4-3, 4.65), a 6'5" 240 lbs left hander, was getting ready to take his turn in the rotation against the Yankees Saturday night at US Cellular Field for the White Sox. Instead, Richard packed his bags, moved to the west coast and will not have to get ready to make his Padres' debut against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

The other players that the Padres will receive are left handers Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard along with right handers Dexter Carter and Adam Russell.

Instead of putting way too much emotion into this deal, because I know the Padres' fans aren't happy about their ace being traded, there is more to this deal than just the fact that Peavy was traded.

With this move, the Padres are no longer obligated to pay the remaining $58 million of Peavy's salary, not to mention his $22 million club option for the 2013 season. That's $80 million total that the Padres don't have invested in one guy. 

Taking away the club option, since that's not on the books until it would be exercised, the Padres can use the $58 million freed up to sign first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to a long term deal, not to mention the draft picks that are still unsigned which includes number one pick Donavan Tate.

They can also use some of that to go out and get a free agent starter or reliever that will be able to help rebuild this pitching staff that has spent more time on the disabled list than actually on the field.

When you take a step back from all of the emotion that has gone through a lot of us fans since the deal took place, we should realize that Peavy is right when he says that this deal was inevitable. This deal was going to happen whether it was now or whether it was prior to the 2010 season, this was bound to happen because San Diego didn't want to pay what remained of Peavy's contract.

We said goodbye to Trevor Hoffman only to fall in love with the Padres' new closer in Heath Bell and, so far, he hasn't disappointed. It's time that we move on from Jake Peavy and embrace a young pitcher who could be the next Jake Peavy in right hander Mat Latos. 

Latos has already showed signs of brilliance and he's only made a few starts so far. The possibilities of his talent is absolutely endless and, if the players San Diego received in return for Jake are as good as some say, then this team could be well on their way to competing again in the National League West.

For now, I'll be content to watch this team rebuild with some exciting young players like Will Venable, Kyle Blanks and the aforementioned Latos. 

I know that the patience of Padres' fans is wearing thin, but trust me when I tell you that saving $58 million is going to allow this team to finally start building in the right direction.