In a recent interview with XX1090's Darren Smith, Adrian Gonzalez said:

 "I didn't have a choice in staying or leaving".

 When asked what he thought about fans calling him greedy and that he doesn't care for his hometown team, his response was:

 "The biggest way to even comment to that is the fact that here in San Diego they never even made an offer and I was traded.  So it wasn't like I left as a free agent somewhere else.  It wasn't like I turned down a certain amount of money."

 The guys at gaslampball.com did a great job transcribing the interview here.

 I'm sure the first reaction from fans will be frustration, but as Tom Krasovich reminds us, the Padres talked with Gonzalez and Boggs in 2009 and tried to lay down parameters for a deal (Full Story).

 "When Moorad met with Gonzalez in the spring of 2009 and told him that the club could pay him $12 million to $15 million, the market for star first basemen was on the rise."

 The Padres and General Manager Jed Hoyer tried many times to dialogue with Boggs, but after the Mark Texieria and Ryan Howard contracts were signed, it only pushed both sides further apart.  For Gonzalez to make comments to this degree is insulting.  He is on record talking about the fact he "plays for baseball" not a team, that he is not happy with Petco, and recently Gonzalez said he would not take a discount to play in San Diego because it was not fair to others if he shifted the market by signing for a discounted amount.

 Now all of the sudden he is going to come back to San Diego and cry “poor me?”  This, after agreeing in principle to a contract that over seven seasons will pay him just under 40% of the price Jeff Moorad purchased the Padres for a few years back.  WOW!

 I have no problem with the fact that he wanted to get fair market value and he knew the Padres couldn't pay him.  What I do have a problem with is Gonzalez misleading Padres’ fans to believe for even a moment that he would have signed a discounted contract to stay in San Diego.  The situation is what it is and throwing the Padres under the bus is the last thing this fan base needs.

 I hate to see Gonzalez go, but I understand it was in the best interest of the team, and I feel Jed got a solid haul for it.  At the end of the day, I would rather have three high-ceiling prospects in the system now than watch Adrian pull his best LeBron imitation on Friar Faithful later.