Getty Images Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Dodgers are “closing in on” a contract agreement with free agent starter Zack Greinke.
The deal will cover the next six years and carry a total value of $145 million if it indeed goes through.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported on Thursday that Dodgers officials were “starting to seem slightly discouraged” because of a strong push by Texas’ front office and Greinke’s positive reaction to their sales pitch. But Heyman is now acknowledging that the script has been flipped and that it’s the Rangers who suddenly have a bad feeling about the course of the negotiations.
Greinke registered a 3.48 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 200/54 K/BB ratio across 212 1/3 innings this past summer between the Brewers and Angels. The 29-year-old right-hander was at one point said to be seeking a seven-year contract worth more than $160 million, and it seems he’s going to come pretty close.
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UPDATE, 8:26 PM: The Rangers “have been told” that Greinke is not signing with them, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Which means that an announcement from the Dodgers is likely imminent.
UPDATE, 8:57 PM: CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that Greinke and the Dodgers are in agreement, and that the contract is only pending a physical. It’ll wind up as a six-year, $147 million pact, which represents the highest annual average committed to a pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball.
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Last month Amanda Rykoff noted that the Yankees’ “craft beer” section at Yankee Stadium was anything but. They’re continuing to have problems with basic beer identification, however, as now Patrick Wall of DNAInfoNY spied Goose Island listed as an “import.” Which, no, it’s not. It’s a Chicago beer. Wait, no it’s not. It’s actually brewed in…
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Angels reliever Ryan Madson was finally making some progress in his rehab from last season’s elbow surgery, but he’s suffered yet another setback. Mason felt soreness in his elbow after a one-inning rehab appearance at Single-A last week and hasn’t pitched since. As you’d expect Madson sounds…
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The Mets first baseman is having a train wreck of a season thus far. He’s hitting .147/.236/.245, which is horrible even on a horrible Mets offense. And his poor hitting seems to be infecting his fielding too. See, yesterday’s non-play on a ball he though was foul but which he turned into a game-killing double.…
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Francisco Liriano was terrible for the Twins and White Sox last season and then lost out on a ton of guaranteed money with the Pirates when he broke his right arm trying to prank his kids on Christmas morning. That all led to a whole lot of jokes at his expense and caused Liriano to…
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Good news, Miami! Pretty soon all of those Marlins shutout losses are going to turn into losses in which the Marlins score one on Giancarlo Stanton home runs: On Wednesday, slugger Giancarlo Stanton took live batting practice at Marlins Park for the first time since straining his right hamstring on April 30. Redmond tossed the BP session…
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A day after fearing the right field wall in AT&T Park, Bryce Harper went back on a drive much closer to the bricks and made a nice catch. He also had an opposite field home run. You can see both of those plays here. Funny what happens when Davey Johnson doesn’t make his best hitter bunt.…
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So torn here. I love what Evan Gattis has done with the Braves so far. Highlight reel moments, power when it has been needed and he is a great story. But I almost wonder if he’s too great a story. We cant’ seem to go a day without hearing some new Gattis-is-Kane-from-Kung-Fu tale. Stuff about…
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Like the guy needs any help. UPDATE: Sorry about the video glitch. MLB.com has this as embeddable, but for some reason it won’t embed as it’s supposed to. So here’s the link. God, this day is not starting out well.
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Phillies 3, Marlins 0: Cliff Lee shuts out the Marlins on three hits. Granted, it doesn’t take anyone as good as Lee to shut out the Marlins, but that’s nothing that Lee could help. He was dominant. Just like Benedict Cumberbatch in that scene when he killed all those [alien race redacted to avoid spoilers]…
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Astros vendor brings snow cones into bathroom stall, gets fired
May 23, 2013, 12:17 AM EDT
This is on the short list of the most horrifying stories ever posted at HardballTalk. An Aramark vendor at Monday’s Royals-Astros game at Minute Maid was caught bringing his tray of snow cones into a bathroom stall with him. Click2Houston.com has the video taken by a concerned onlooker. Remarkably, this happened in the first game…
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OK, so there hasn’t been any actual All-Star ballot results released yet. That doesn’t mean I can’t do my fun little exercise here. What follows is my best guess at the All-Star Game starting lineups. National League CF Andrew McCutchen 2B Brandon Phillips 1B Joey Votto LF Justin Upton RF Bryce Harper 3B David Wright…
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Don Mattingly had some harsh things to say about the club he manages on Wednesday afternoon, leaving many to guess that he might be officially canned at some point during Thursday’s scheduled team off day. But that apparently will not happen. Via the Los Angeles Times: Don Mattingly will be managing the Dodgers on Friday when they open a…
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Josh Rutledge showed signs of promise in 2012 when he hit eight home runs, stole seven bases and registered a .775 OPS in 73 games as a 23-year-old. But the middle infielder has failed to meet the hype so far in 2013 and was officially optioned Wednesday evening to Triple-A Colorado Springs according to beat…
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The Cardinals learned today that Jaime Garcia needs what will likely be season-ending shoulder surgery. And now another starter is in trouble. According to MLB.com beat writer Jenifer Langosch, sinkerballer Jake Westbrook was unable to make it beyond 20 pitches in a bullpen session this evening because of lingering discomfort in his right elbow. He…
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Indians first baseman Nick Swisher was placed on the paternity leave list Tuesday following the birth of his daughter. After getting a few days to spend with his family’s newest addition, he will return to the Tribe’s starting lineup on Friday night in Boston. This according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Swisher, 32, is batting…
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David Freese suffered a gash on his right thumb Sunday when he lunged to tag Norichika Aoki on the left leg during a rundown along the third base line. It was only a minor cut, but he got stitches after the game and has not made an appearance since. Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that Freese is…
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Orioles prospect Jonathan Schoop diagnosed with stress fracture in back, out 6-8 weeks
May 22, 2013, 6:40 PM EDT
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Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that Orioles infield prospect Jonathan Schoop has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back and is likely to need 6-8 weeks of rest. He will meet with another doctor this week for a second opinion, but the initial diagnosis probably won’t change. Schoop is hitting .268/.331/.386 with three…
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Jered Weaver threw 5.2 innings of one-run ball in an extended spring training game today, potentially setting him up to come off the disabled list and rejoin the Angels’ rotation next week. Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times reports that Weaver threw 75 pitches, 62 for strikes, and struck out nine versus zero walks.…
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Superman has kryptonite. Matt Harvey has Zack Cozart. Despite being a nearly unhittable pitcher this year, the Reds’ Cozart got four hits off Harvey today en route to a 4 for 5, two-double performance. Overall Harvey had his worst outing of the season, allowing four runs on nine hits in six and a third. One…
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Kinda feels like a lot of Rays farmhands get suspended for drugs: The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Tampa Bay Rays Minor League right-handed pitcher Angel Yepez has received a 50-game suspension without pay after testing positive for metabolites of Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Minor League Drug…
