ELAINE THOMPSON / Associated Press
Padres' Akinori Otsuka throws one of the first pitches of 2005 as the club's pitchers and catchers reported to spring training.
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PEORIA, Ariz. – It was more "spring raining" than spring training yesterday when the Padres opened camp, but that didn't keep pitcher Jake Peavy from musing about a sunny September.
"No question, we've got enough here to win the West, for sure, absolutely," Peavy said from the team's clubhouse. "I'm not saying we are going to win the West, but we have what it takes. I'm going to try my best to pull my load."
Peavy has another plan, one he'd prefer gets scrapped. Unless he and the Padres can agree on a multiyear contract, Peavy said he and his agent are prepared to take the team to arbitration after the season.
"We stand pretty firm," he said as rain fell on tarp-covered mounds. "We're saying if we don't get something done (in spring training), we'll probably end up going to arbitration. We hope that doesn't happen. I really don't want that to happen.
"I'd really like to get something done."
The Padres and Peavy's agent began talks on a multiyear contract in November, making headway on a four-year proposal. General Manager Kevin Towers said talks will resume this week and end before Opening Day so as not to be a distraction.
Towers also pointed out that the club doesn't have to issue a multiyear pact because it controls Peavy's rights through the 2008 season. If unsigned past 2005, however, Peavy can apply for arbitration next winter, and the process can hugely inflate a player's salary.
Because of the many large pay raises obtained by pitchers this offseason, Peavy's salary potential already has soared since the Padres decided last March against tying him up with a long-term deal.
Peavy said he'd never "have a chip on my shoulder" where the Padres are concerned.
"I think the absolute world of Kevin," he said of the GM. "(Club Chairman) John Moores, you couldn't ask for a better owner, and John's available. I know (CEO) Dick (Freeman) very well. I love every bit of this organization, and by any means am not trying to do anything that's not supposed to be done.
"I'm not going to worry about anything other than pitching here. I want to give them their money's worth. It's not going to make a difference what I make, the way I pitch and prepare, and I think they know that."
Seventeen pitchers are in camp, and it's likely that 12 will accompany the team to Colorado for its season opener April 4. Last February, the Padres celebrated the arrival of pitcher David Wells, a 200-game winner and Ocean Beach product who vowed that the team's run of losing seasons would not continue on his watch. In addition to becoming a mentor to Peavy and others, Wells went 9-2 on the road and 12-8 overall with a 3.78 ERA in 31 starts, helping the Padres go 87-75 and finish third.
Peavy said he expects Woody Williams, signed shortly before Wells agreed to terms with the Boston Red Sox, to replace Wells' production. But Peavy and other Padres acknowledged they fancied a rotation with both Wells and Williams. When Wells telephoned him two days ago, Peavy told the left-hander he should be shaking hands with his Padres teammates in Peoria, not the likes of Curt Schilling in Fort Myers, Fla.
"It hurt a little bit when David left," Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said. "To me, David was one of the best left-handed starters in baseball, even at age 41. He pitched well. His numbers could have been better, actually.
"It's a big loss, but getting Woody, a veteran who knows how to pitch, and Darrell May, another lefty, to replace Boomer is nice."
Williams went 45-22 with the Cardinals after the Padres dealt him to St. Louis during the 2001 season. But the Padres' ace appears to be Peavy, whose 2.27 ERA made him the youngest ERA champion in the NL since the Mets' Dwight Gooden in 1985. The next-best ERA, at 2.60, belonged to future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.
Balsley found it "incredible" that Peavy wasn't listed on any of the 30 ballots for the NL Cy Young Award, which is voted for by baseball writers. The winner was Roger Clemens. Among those who received third-place votes were Houston closer Brad Lidge and Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets.
"I don't know why someone didn't vote Jake third," Balsley said. "I knew how well he was doing during the season. But when I got home and reflected on it, Carl Pavano and Clemens and Randy Johnson got all those accolades, but Jake had a 2.27 ERA and was a dominant pitcher."
