McGriff Is the Richest Padre Ever : Baseball: First baseman agrees to four-year, $15.25-million deal.

Fred McGriff and the Padres agreed Wednesday on a four-year, $15.25 million contract that will make the first baseman the highest-paid player in franchise history, sources said.

Team officials refused to confirm the accord, which includes an option year, though the announcement will come this afternoon. “We expect to have something to say about it (today),” team spokesman Jim Ferguson said.

Neither McGriff nor his agent, Jim Krivacs, could be reached for comment.

McGriff, 27, who was acquired in December along with shortstop Tony Fernandez from the Toronto Blue Jays for infielder Roberto Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter, was scheduled for an arbitration hearing Friday in Chicago.

McGriff was seeking a $3.3 million salary, and the Padres countered with a $2.25 million offer.

McGriff, who made $1.45 million last year, will get a $1-million signing bonus, $2.5 million in 1991, $3.5 million in 1992, $4 million in 1993 and $3.75 million in 1994, the Associated Press reported. The Padres have a $4.25-million option for 1995 with a $500,000 buyout.

In the weeks approaching McGriff’s hearing, he and Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine had expressed optimism a deal could be worked out before arbitration.

McGriff becomes the 37th player to agree to a contract worth $3 million a year or more. His average annual salary of $3.81 million over four years ranks him fifth among major-league baseball players, behind Boston’s Roger Clemens, Oakland’s Jose Canseco, the Dodgers’ Darryl Strawberry and Don Mattingly, Yankee first baseman who is another Krivacs client.

Over the past four years, McGriff has the highest slugging percentage in baseball, having averaged 31 home runs and 80 runs batted in that period.