Padres set to sign Peavy

The San Diego Padres are finalizing a four-year guaranteed deal with pitcher Jake Peavy. The deal is worth approximately $15 million, that covers his arbitration years, plus an option for Peavy's first year of free agency in 2009.

The only holdup to the deal is an insurance policy, covering the club in case of injury. The deal will be officially announced when that policy goes through.

A 15th round pick out of St. Paul's Episcopal High School in Alabama in 1999, Jake Peavy, 23, just completed a season where he won the ERA Championship for the league with a 2.27 ERA.

Peavy made the jump to the Majors from the Mobile BayBears in 2000 and has gotten better every year since.

"We've got four guaranteed years, and I didn't have any problems giving up one of my free agent years," Peavy said. ""At the end of that thing, I'll be 27 years old. Waiting another year isn't going to kill me. If I was a little bit older, obviously free agency is what you strive for."

One of his goals was to wrap up negotiations before April rolled around. With the deal all but done, he can focus on the season to come.

Peavy is happy with San Diego and is looking for them to compete this season. He feels that with the healthy return of the lineup and a little more from the pitching staff, the Padres can win the NL West.

"We have to do what we did last year and even more so, get better at it," Peavy added. "I believe we can."