Padres' Last-Minute Trade Of Jake Peavy Clears $56M From Books

Peavy Trade Expected To Save Padres In  Excess Of $56M In Guaranteed Money

FINANCIAL RELIEF: In San Diego, Tim Sullivan wrote while Peavy's contract "made sense when it was signed," it has since "come to represent the irrational exuberance of a baseball bubble." With the economy in "severe recession and the Padres in full retreat, even a recent Cy Young Award winner begins to look like an extravagance." Sullivan noted Peavy's $15M salary for '10 "could have represented more than one-third of the Padres' entire player payroll." Peavy: "Financially, this couldn't have been any better for the Padres. We had lunch two weeks ago (to) figure out what the game plan was: to get healthy, showcase myself and have to be moved" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/1). ESPN's Buster Olney wrote the Padres "had to trade" Peavy unless they wanted one guy to take up 30-40% "of their payroll in 2010." Olney: "During the past year, the ugly divorce of John Moores from the Padres has forced them to conduct a garage sale, unloading almost all of their meaningful assets. It appears they will cut their payroll from $75[M] to something in the range of $20-25[M] within two years." He added the Padres' demise is "one of the worst things baseball has seen since the night that Charlie Finley tried to sell off Rollie Fingers, Vida Blue and Joe Rudi" (ESPN.com, 8/2). Olney added, "This is one of the saddest situations baseball has had" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 7/31).

SAD STATE OF THE GAME: In San Diego, Nick Canepa writes under the header, "Losing Peavy An Example Of What's Ailing Baseball." Canepa: "How embarrassing is it for the Padres, who have the ballpark of their dreams and not long ago fielded one of the more competitive teams in the sport, to sink to a level where their best player, so loyal, gets to Chicago and says he's happy to be on a team committed to winning?" Towers: "It's probably not good for the game. But it's reality. It happened when the economy was good, but small and mid-market clubs are feeling it now. Certain fans won't understand it. Maybe in a year or two it will all make sense" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/3). However, ESPN's Olney said the Padres are a "mess." Olney: "They don't have a very good major league team. They don't have a good farm system" ("Mike & Mike in the Morning," ESPN2, 8/3).

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