Pads near three-year extension with Peavy
The deal, which would lock up Peavy through 2012, will be worth $52 million over the three years, with an option for a fourth. Should the team exercise a $22 million option for 2013, the deal will be worth $70 million.
The extension is contingent on the 26-year-old Peavy passing a physical. The two sides are continuing to work on other details, including the scope of no-trade provisions.
The commitment to Peavy would be by far the largest in club history, surpassing the four-year, $34 million contract that the Padres awarded Phil Nevin in 2001.
Axelrod declined comment on specific dollar figures, but said that Peavy's average annual value would be lower than that of Carlos Zambrano and Barry Zito.
Zambrano is averaging $18.3 million per season in the five-year, $91.5 million extension that he negotiated with the Cubs last season.
Zito is averaging $18 million per season in the seven-year, $126 million free-agent deal that he signed with the Giants as a free agent last off-season.
"We have the advantage of all living in the same city," Axelrod told the AP by phone on Tuesday. "We don't have to focus on it in Nashville."
Peavy, the unanimous winner of the National League Cy Young award last season, will earn $6.5 million next season. The Padres hold an $11 million option on him for 2009.
The Padres have long given the so-called San Diego Discount. Players know they can get more as free agents elsewhere, but San Diego's sunny climate makes it a great place to play — even if the Padres haven't won a postseason series since 1998.
Peavy is 76-51 with a 3.31 ERA in his career. He led the majors with a 2.27 ERA in 2004 and topped the NL with 216 strikeouts in 2005. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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