I know, I know...I more then anyone have gone mad watching Valverde celebrate closing against us but we could use the help and after this season i dont care where it comes from. Thoughts?

"I have had no discussions with the Cubs or any other club about Peavy since the winter meetings, so there is really nothing to update," Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said via e-mail last night. "Our position remains the same. We are not pursuing other clubs about potentially moving Jake and nobody has contacted us either since the winter meetings."

"Obviously, we took note of the trade that took place (Sunday)," Axelrod said Monday, en route to an appointment with Peavy. "You would certainly not be out of line to surmise from all of (the Cubs' moves) that they might be working toward something. But I haven't heard a word that anything is different."

"I think too much is being made of the Chicago/Baltimore trade as it might relate to us," Padres CEO Sandy Alderson said Monday. "Chicago had a crowded outfield, probably needed to move Pie, had limited interest in him among other clubs and knew what Baltimore would give up from the earlier discussions with us."

Not a huge deal at all hear, just wondering what people thought about the comment.

"Aramis Ramirez-am I the only one who thought he lost alot of weight last year? Due to Mitchell report?"

Never thought of him as a roids user, but this made me think for awhile that while he did look to lose alot of weight wasnt it from that new diet they were all on? Is this reason to be concerned?

"It must have been the first or second week of the season and we were sitting together on the bench, neither of us pitching that night," Young said Monday via E-mail. "Immediately to our left were the stairs that lead from the dugout to the field, with a big opening in the screen.

"Geoff Blum was up and it was late in the game. They had a right-handed pitcher on the mound, I don't recall who. Blum had seen a couple of pitches and right before the pitcher started his delivery for the next pitch Maddux leans into my ear and said, 'Watch out.' "

In a flash, the pitcher threw a slider down and in that Blum smashed foul into the visitors' dugout and just past Young's ear. Maddux had successfully anticipated the pitch, its location, the angle of Blum's swing and the danger.

"I already knew how great Greg was," Young said, "but that experience showed me how Greg sees the game a little bit differently than the rest of us."