Just call him Fake Peavy

As you know, I am no White Sox fan. But I am a fan of my fantasy baseball team, and since my Jake Peavy-owning friend Peter is currently annihilating the rest of our league, it would've been nice if Peavy would have accepted the deal to the Sox, leaving Peter with nothing because of our NL-only alignment. So I'm not happy Peavy rejected the trade. Nor am I thrilled with his alleged reasoning. Because it seems to me that Peavy was being less than forthright when he gave his explanation for nixing the deal.

"As of right now, this is the best place for us to be. We made that decision for the time being."

The remarks were couched as concern for his family of five. And I am forced to call bullshit. The reason San Diego is the "best place for us to be," is not due to the uncertainty of moving his wife and three boys but because it is the best place for Jake Peavy to be. That is, in baseball's best pitcher's park, in it's crummier league. Going to a home run haven like U.S. Cellular Field -- in addition to playing in the Big Boy League -- would probably add at least a full point to Peavy's ERA. Which would cost him plenty when he hits free agency after the 2012 season, when he'll still only be 31.

Check out Peavy's ERA splits the last three seasons before this one: 2.72 home/3.73 road. All those road games are essentially the equivalent of playing in a neutral park, not a homer hotbed like the Cell. Since ERA is somewhat luck-dependent, I'll note that he's also allowed 229 hits and 32 home runs in 258.1 road innings, compared to 273 hits and 21 homers in 341 home innings. The relative rates:

Road: 7.98 H/9, 1.11 HR/9
Home: 7.21 H/9, 0.55 HR/9

Because of spacious Petco Park, Peavy has allowed roughly half the round-trippers at home than he would have at a neutral park. Looked at another way, he should have allowed twice as many home dingers, or 33% more overall. And you think he's just going to give that advantage up? And go into the league with the designated hitter and the generally-superior talent? I say no, unless his new franchise and home ballpark represent a more appealing combination than the White Sox, who might not be a contender, but still have a much better shot at winning their division than do the Padres. No one in the AL Central has been able to separate from the pack like the Dodger's have in the NL West. The White Sox' 6.5-game deficit to the Tigers will be much easier to overcome than the Pads' 10-gamer.

Peavy really didn't do a good job of masking his true motives by adding: "We made that decision for the time being." Yes, for right now, I'll say that moving is highly undesirable. For the time being, of course. Obviously, two weeks from now, when a more palatable team comes a-callin', it might be a better time, and somewhere else might then become the "best place to be."

Jake, I hear they call Milwaukee "The San Diego of the Midwest." Or perhaps you'd prefer "The San Diego of the Eastern Seaboard," New York. Though of course those San Diego-esque qualities exist only in the Mets' part of town. Yes, facing all of those more competent hitters -- and none of those oh-so-hard-to-retire pitchers -- in baseball's best division while pitching for the Yankees would be rather un-San Diego-y. And Jake's three sons certainly wouldn't want that.