There is a growing feeling that the trade of Jake Peavy will happen sometime before Thanksgiving. San Diego GM Kevin Towers made mention the other day that the train has left the station, words that seemingly implied that a Peavy deal was imminent -- but keep in mind that Towers, who has an acute sense of humor, has been trading train analogies with Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, as each has spoken with reporters.
At one point, Towers mentioned that because Peavy has a no-trade clause, the pitcher and Axelrod are driving the train, and Axelrod responded with a reference to only being able to apply brakes. And now Towers is talking about the train leaving the station. All in good fun, in what will be a very difficult situation for the Padres -- the Peavy deal will be viewed, fairly or not, through the same prism which Padres fans viewed the trades of
Gary Sheffield and
Fred McGriff during the fire sale of 1993.
This all might have some impact, as well, on the decision of all-time leading closer
Trevor Hoffman to stay or leave the team. Hoffman is a free agent, and the Padres have offered him $4 million for 2009, a cut in pay, but sources say Hoffman is seeking a meeting with club executives to learn more about the team's plans for the future. With so many teams looking for closers this fall, and with so few veteran closers available, Hoffman will have no difficulty finding work elsewhere, perhaps in Cleveland, if he decided to walk away from the Padres. Maybe the Padres' decision to pick up the option on
Brian Giles will make Hoffman feel better
about the Padres' situation.
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Buster Olney
