9:52: Heyman and others are now tweeting that it is a five year deal worth $78 million.
9:19 A.M: Francisco Blavia tweets that the deal is worth $78MM over five years. However, Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider says the deal “may very well be six years guaranteed and less than $100 million, with some incentives that could push it over the $100-million mark.”
Not sure who to believe, but I feel comfortable reporting that Hernandez is going to be very, very rich.
12:43 A.M. The Seattle Mariners have reportedly agreed to a contract extension with ace pitcher Felix Hernandez.
ESPN’s Keith Law, citing “a source with direct knowledge of the talks”, reports that the sides agreed to a deal on Monday night on the eve of the deadline for exchanging salary figures for arbitration.
The length and the terms of the deal were not available.
Hernandez, who made $3.8 million in 2009, was set for a big payday after going 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA in 2009, finishing second in the AL Cy Young balloting to Royals star Zack Greinke.
Law reports that the deal will go through pending a physical. If it does, it will be the latest impressive move by second-year Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, who appears well on his way to turning around a franchise that lost 101 games under Bill Bavasi in 2008.
Earlier this offseason, Zduriencik worked a deal with the Phillies that brought ace Cliff Lee to Seattle, giving the Mariners perhaps the best one-two pitching punch in all of baseball. And more recently, he signed center fielder Franklin Gutierrez - a promising young hitter coming off a brilliant defensive season - to a four-year extension.
