The waiting game for Ubaldo Jimenez is now officially over as several reliable sources confirmed that the veteran pitcher agreed to sign with the Baltimore Orioles.
According to several reports, Jimenez will sign a four-year deal worth around $48-50 million. Terms of the deal will be known once the contract is officially finalized after Jimenez passes physicals.
Orioles insider Roch Kubatko first broke out the news that Jimenez and the Orioles are getting closer to finalizing a deal on Monday night.
"Source: #Orioles have made substantial progress on Jimenez and are working to finalize deal, believed 4 years and around $48 million," Kubatko posted on his Twitter account.
Veteran MLB insider John Heyman revealed more details about the development, saying that Jimenez was haggling for a $50-million deal. Ken Rosenthal, another trusted MLB analyst, then revealed that a deal has been finalized pending physical.
"Ubaldo Jimenez agrees to a 4-year deal for $50M with orioles, according to sources," Heyman tweeted.
"Source: #Orioles in agreement with Jimenez. Deal is pending physical," Rosenthal tweeted.
The four-year deal worth around $48-50 million is nowhere near the initial asking price of Jimenez, who was initially seeking a long-term deal worth more than $100 million.
Jimenez was considered as one of the best free agents on the market this offseason, but teams were not willing to give into his asking price, with league executive saying that the 30-year-old pitchers has been pricing himself out of his actual value.
The $12-million per year deal looks expensive according to analyst, but the Orioles were willing to take a gamble as reports indicated that they don't want to get outbid by other interested teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners.
Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette made it no secret that the team is looking for another impact player to shore up their starting rotation.
Jimenez, who went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA last season with the Cleveland Indians, is expected to anchor their rotation in the upcoming 2014 MLB Season.
The eight-year veteran right hander previously turned down Indians' $14.1-million qualifying offer in November, which means that the Orioles will surrender their highest unprotected pick to the Indians.
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