Peavy Speculation

From Ken Davidoff (Newsday):

In this baseball winter that will be dominated by free-agent starting pitchers, the most intriguing commodity might be a young, frontline starter who already is signed to a reasonable contract.

Whom would you rather have? CC Sabathia for six years and $150 million? Or Jake Peavy for four years and $63 million?

The Padres, coming off a 63-99 season, will at least explore a Peavy trade, general manager Kevin Towers confirmed to Newsday. ESPN’s Buster Olney first reported that possibility this past week.

The Yankees are among the teams with prospects that interest the Padres, although it’s not clear whether Peavy would waive his no-trade clause to come to the Bronx.

“Coming off 99 losses, we’re going to a little bit of a younger core club,” Towers said Friday in a telephone interview. “I guess it’s worth at least exploring to see what he would bring back.”

Towers said he hasn’t yet initiated trade discussions.

Rather, much as Cleveland’s Mark Shapiro did when preparing to deal Sabathia, Towers is targeting teams with young talent that interests him; it’s hard to see the Mets having enough. The price figures to be immense, although the Padres’ financial health is unclear because of the divorce proceedings of owner John Moores.

Peavy, 27, will make $11 million in 2009, $15 million in 2010, $16 million in 2011 and $17 million in 2012. He has a $22-million team option for 2013 with a $4-million buyout.

Last week, he expressed frustration with the team’s direction, telling San Diego reporters: “I want to be here, but I want to be here with a chance to win a World Series. If someone says, ‘Hey, we’re going to rebuild, that’s not going to be our top priority,’ you certainly would wonder what your other options are.”

Peavy is a horse with a relatively affordable contract (the price per year spikes after 2009, but it’s still fine when you consider the talent involved). His home-away splits were somewhat scary this year (1.74 ERA VS. 4.28 ERA), but upon further review his career numbers when on the road (3.80 ERA), and not in San Diego’s expansive park, are still pretty good. We’ve heard rumors about Peavy and the Yankees before, so I wouldn’t get excited. At this point, he’s just another speculative option.