Jake Peavy is excited to become a member of the Chicago White Sox. "First off, I?m very excited to be here," Peavy said about 45 minutes after entering the Sox's cluhouse and hugging Jermaine Dye. "Obviously, I had mixed emotions over the last 24 hours simply because San Diego is a place that I?ve known since I?ve been a 17-year-old kid. So leaving there and the relationships I had there was tough. But when I got on that plane this morning, I left those loyalties and obligations in San Diego. "I?ve never been more happy to be in a place where they?re committed to winning. Kenny (Williams) and his staff have made that very clear to me. I feel honored to put this uniform on with the other great players I just had a chance to meet in that clubhouse." Peavy said "the itch just got turned up a notch" to be fully healed from an ankle injury because the Sox were contending for a playoff spot. "Physically, I?m getting better on a daily basis, walking around pain free, running pain free," said Peavy, who will wear No. 44. "I have not done anything side-to-side, (just) throwing off of flat ground. Have not thrown off a mound; I think that?s coming in the next day or so. I?m going to sit down with the staff after the game today and kind of map out a plan for me. But physically, the ankle feels fine, it?s just a little bit weak. Simply being in a boot for six weeks will make the calf muscle and stuff like that weak. "And the arm, same way, didn?t throw a ball. So I?m just trying to get arm strength and get back and make a couple of rehab starts to try to get on top of my game, because everybody knows when you take a couple of months off, you?re not going to be as sharp and as good as you are when you?re in mid-season form. But I wouldn?t be surprised in the next three weeks, four weeks, to certainly be out on the field trying to help this ballclub win."