While Jake Peavy won’t begin his rehab stint for another couple of weeks, Clayton Richard made an immediate impact for the San Diego Padres.  He allowed just one run (a solo homer) over 5 2/3 innings, allowing more walks (three) than hits (two).

He seemed to lose effectiveness his second and third time through — certainly nothing new, but hopefully the strong first run helps Padres fans warm up to him.  As far as I can tell, so far, so good.

It didn’t exactly come as a surprise that Kenny Williams dealt Richard, although Richard said he was blindsided by the news. I think a lot of people on the other end were sad to see him go. For instance, Williams wished him a warmer farewell than he did to, say, Brandon McCarthy:

“Clayton Richard, we believe, especially going to the National League and in San Diego’s ballpark … I told him, you are about to be a very successful and rich man. You are going to do well over there.”

Richard was nearly impossible to dislike, mainly because he was like Mark Buehrle’s awkward, larger younger brother; the Robert Barone to Buehrle’s Raymond. He rose from obscurity like Buehrle, worked as fast as Buehrle, and somehow avoided balks like Buehrle.  One could say we saw far too much of his teeth, but it’s partially because he doesn’t sulk — even though he took some pretty thorough beatings, and Ozzie Guillen shifted him between the rotation and the bullpen.

If you don’t hold Richard up to Buehrle’s standard of consistency, the only other difference is that Richard can’t field his position worth a damn. Not for a lack of effort, though.

Add up those factors, along with having seen him throw a nice start on his way to the big leagues, and I was hoping to see Richard develop into that rich man in a Sox uniform. For a rookie, he acted like a pro’s pro. Alas, since Williams had already traded him once, the second time’s not much of a surprise.

The same can be said for the other arms included in the deal.

Click to continue »

It’s a done deal. The final tally: Jake Peavy for Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Dexter Carter and Adam Russell.

Kenny Williams is the master of “Shock and Hm.”  After getting leveled by the surprise of it all, I recover and find that I have no strong feelings either way.

It’s a fair deal. The Padres give up a Cy Young-caliber pitcher for four guys who aren’t great bets to be even half the starter Peavy is. The White Sox can’t use Peavy right away (he’s going to start rehab in the middle of August), and when he’s (hopefully) at full strength in 2010, he’ll be commanding front-line starter money with no cash from San Diego. He’ll enter a three-year, $52 million extension next season with a $22 million option ($4 million buyout) next season.

If you’re hankering to get fired up, here’s the key:

• Mark Buehrle
• Jake Peavy
• John Danks
• Gavin Floyd

That’s what this deal is all about. The Twins take Orlando Cabrera off Oakland’s hands, which could be a downgrade if he doesn’t shape up. The Tigers shore up their rotation by picking up Jarrod Washburn for a couple of so-so prospects, a solid starter who’s either en route to a career year or back to Earth.

Just when you think the Sox are standing pat, Williams beats the clock by sending two exciting pitching prospects, one decent big-league starter and one Loch Ness Monster for Peavy. After which, he hangs up the phone and does the Sam Cassell Dance:

I’ll have more on the guys the Sox sent packing tomorrow, but I wouldn’t overlook Adam Russell’s involvement in this trade. Three reasons:

No. 1: Russell’s had a nice season in Charlotte.

No. 2: The Padres know how to get through to really tall guys (see: Chris Young).

No. 3: The Padres know how to work with other team’s disappointments (see: Heath Bell, Cla Meredith, Mike Adams).

What happens to Russell won’t really matter to the White Sox since he wasn’t in their plans, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up having a nice season for the Friars next year.