Padres Notebook: Peavy's pact includes possible escalator ride

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Friday, March 4, 2005 9:30 PM PST ∞

PEORIA, Ariz. ---- The Jake Peavy who took the mound for the Padres in their Cactus League opener on Friday did so as a substantially wealthier pitcher.

The Padres put the final touches on a four-year contract with an option that will guarantee Peavy $14.5 million and could be worth more than $25 million.

Peavy's annual salaries will increase sharply. He will earn $750,000 this season, $2.5 million in 2006, $4.75 million in '07 and $6 million in '08.

The club option in '09 is for $8 million, or else the Padres owe a $500,000 buyout.

Performance bonuses would net Peavy even more money. If he pitches 600 innings from 2005-07, his 2008 salary will increase to $6.5 million. If he pitches 600 innings from 2006-08, the option amount will go up to $9 million. And if he wins the Cy Young Award in any of the next four seasons, he stands to make $11 million in the option year.

Each time Peavy were to finish in the top three of the Cy Young voting the next four years would add $500,000 apiece to the option total.

Towers to testify?

An Associated Press story Friday suggested that Padres general manager Kevin Towers might be invited to testify this month before a congressional committee investigating steroids. Towers declined comment to the AP, and he didn't return a phone call Friday evening.

Towers has found himself at the center of the steroids firestorm since he told ESPN the Magazine this week that he strongly suspected former Padres third baseman Ken Caminiti was on steroids, but that he turned his back because of the team's success.

Padres drop opener

Peavy pitched two scoreless innings Friday, but the Padres' hitters remained cold in a 6-4 loss to the Angels. After Mark Loretta and Brian Giles lined first-inning singles, the Padres didn't record another hit until Ben Johnson's two-run triple in the seventh.

"The bats have been real quiet," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We haven't gotten them out of dormancy."

Setup reliever Akinori Otsuka allowed two runs on three hits in an inning, a performance he attributed to subpar control and velocity.

Short hops

The MRI on the left shoulder of LF Ryan Klesko will be examined by Padres doctor Jan Fronek this morning. Manager Bruce Bochy said Klesko reported the shoulder "felt great." ... CF Freddy Guzman and 1B Tagg Bozied both will be sidelined a few days ---- Guzman by a strained flexor muscle in his elbow and Bozied by knee soreness left over from surgery last summer. ... The Padres have split-squad games today, facing Seattle in Peoria and San Francisco in Scottsdale.