Padres Prepare Gala in Hopes Davis Will Win Cy Young Award

The Padres are hoping to welcome back reliever Mark Davis today with a gala celebratory party at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Fred Lane, the Padres’ Chicago-based attorney, already has sent in his RSVP. The entire Padre front-office will be on hand. Reporters and cameramen are sure to be there scribbling notes and taking footage of every smile and each thank-you speech.

Sorry, but before anyone gets the wrong idea, this is not going to be a press conference announcing that Davis is re-signing with the Padres.

No, what the Padres are anxiously anticipating, is that they can stage a ceremony announcing Davis as winner of the National League Cy Young Award.

Davis and Mike Scott of the Houston Astros are expected to finish in the top two spots in the Cy Young balloting, with the winner being anybody’s guess. Davis led the big-leagues with 44 saves. Scott led the National League with a 20-10 record.

The announcement will be made at 3 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) today, and if Davis is declared the winner, the Davis family will be headed on the first flight out to San Diego, compliments of the Padres. If Davis finishes second, well, a telephone hookup will have to do.

“If someone had told me four years ago that Mark would be up for the Cy Young award,” said Candy Davis, his wife, “I’d say you belong in a loony bin. It’s really hard to believe what’s happening.”

It was four years ago when Davis was coming off a 5-12 season in his first season as a reliever for the San Francisco Giants. The year before he was 5-17.

Today, he’s considered the best reliever in the game.

He was honored Monday in New York by Rolaids for his accomplishments, but instead of being able to savor the award, he was hounded by questions of his free agency.

The Padres’ last offer Friday to Davis was a three-year guaranteed contract for about $6 million, but on Monday, agent Alan Hendricks began listening to offers from other teams. Hendricks and Lane talked again Monday, but no new offers were exchanged.

“We didn’t have any discussions of any consequence,” Lane said, “but we will keep the lines of communication open.

“We made sure today that it was OK to bring Mark out if he wins the Cy Young, and Alan was very supportive. We’re dying for Mark to win the Cy Young, and after that, we’re dying to sign him.”

Davis and his wife still are hopeful of re-signing with the Padres, but because he still is without a contract, he said Monday he has no choice but to listen to other offers.

“I had hoped after the season that it would be done fairly quickly,” Davis said, “but it wasn’t, so we have other options we would like to consider.”