JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune Chargers Chris Chambers (left) and Shaun Phillips get set to board buses for the airport and the flight to Oakland.

It wasn't necessarily a cry for sympathy, but just a short note among dozens of pages in the New York Jets' press release, this one providing relevant information on the upcoming “Monday Night Football” game against the Chargers in San Diego. Those last three words being the most operational. The Jets make their first of four trips to the West Coast as they will log more than 25,000 miles on the road this year.

• Traveling men
• Chargers' next opponent: Miami Dolphins (1-2, fourth Place in AFC East

The Padres have pushed their $70 million lemon through the car wash and come clean. They've admitted their jalopy was the product of everyone on their assembly line – with the possible exception of salesmen Henry Paulson and George W. Bush – and that's still to be determined.

Coming off a 99-defeat season, Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said yesterday he considers no player “untouchable” and will find out the trade value of every player. Towers, speaking recently, also said pitcher Jake Peavy will not be exempted from his offseason fact-finding mission and that he would be shirking his duties if he did not find out Peavy's value on the trade market.

• Peavy's contract
• Padres go to bat against Greene

CHICAGO – Thanks to Jim Thome's bat and Ken Griffey Jr.'s arm, the AL Central has a winner at last: the Chicago White Sox. John Danks pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, Thome homered and Griffey threw out a runner at the plate with a tough tag by A.J. Pierzynski, helping Chicago beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0 in a 163rd-game tiebreaker for the division title last night.

Having concluded ruminating on his team's loss at then-No. 2 Oklahoma over the weekend, TCU coach Gary Patterson yesterday was asked about Saturday's encounter with San Diego State.