Only time will tell just how good the Jake Peavy trade was for the Boston Red Sox. The San Francisco Giants sure aren’t complaining.
The Red Sox traded a struggling Peavy to the Giants back in July in exchange for pitching prospects Heath Hembree and Edwin Escobar. Peavy turned his season around, guided the Giants to the postseason and contributed toward San Francisco nabbing its third World Series title in five years.
“There wasn’t a better move in baseball than us acquiring Jake,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters Tuesday after the club announced a two-year contract for the pitcher. “We don’t get to the postseason without him.”
Peavy arrived in the Bay Area amid a disappointing season, having gone 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA in 20 starts with Boston to begin the year. The right-hander immediately hit the ground running with his new team, though. He went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 12 starts down the stretch as San Francisco earned a spot in the National League wild card game.
Peavy’s postseason featured mixed results, but the organization clearly valued his contributions, his leadership and his potential to continue succeeding in the NL. The Giants rewarded the 33-year-old with a two-year, $24 million deal in free agency.
“I had some really nice offers, but I wasn’t chasing the most money. There were opportunities for that, but I didn’t take those and I feel blessed,” Peavy told reporters Tuesday. “I wanted to be in a situation where A. I can win — (manager Bruce Bochy) and (Giants vice president Bobby Evans) will tell you this, it does nothing but re-energize you and it makes you want to win even more than you previously did.”
Peavy enters 2015 as a back-to-back World Series champion — he also won the Fall Classic with Boston in 2013 — after not winning a single ring in his first 11 years in the majors. The three-time All-Star certainly deserves a pat on the back, especially given his importance to San Francisco’s 2014 cause.
Thumbnail photo via Ed Szczepanski/USA TODAY Sports Images
