Tim Sullivan apparently decided to wait until the off-season to write his best columns.  This one on Peavy is excellent.  I thought his assessment of how the front office is laying all this out to the public is right on and the fact that he called DePodesta  Alderson's consigliore made me giggle.

But I thought this was the part that he really nailed:

Yet the real issue here is not front office flexibility, but fans' faith. Time after time, the Padres have signed key players to long-term contracts only to develop buyer's remorse before the ink dries. When your foundation is forever in flux, your customers may be prone to cynicism.

Several folks around here have wondered why we'd be so upset at the prospect of trading Peavy if it makes the team better and I think Sullivan's observation is right on the money.  I'm not against trading Peavy if it makes the team better - but when the team is forever in flux and changing strategies every couple of years, it gets old.  And tired.  And disheartening. 

And when the consigliore spins his awesome little stories about how great it will be when we trade Peavy because we're going to get so much in return but fails to mention the real reasons why it's happening and pretends like this was the plan all along, it feels a bit insulting.  I understand why it needs to be done now, but don't dress it up for anything more than it is.

We didn't have a slogan this year because the Padres were too busy planning for a 99 loss season to come up with one.  But I think Sullivan just gave them the '09 slogan.

Go Padres!  Forever in Flux!