Jason Grilli Update

Quick hitter here.

It was reported this morning that Gary Sheffield (agent) told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that his client is closing in on a deal. That client is right-handed relief pitcher Jason Grilli.

Lending credibility to that report is Grilli himself who tweeted this morning that he was on his way to Nashville for a “full day”.

Early trip to Nashville. Long journey to get to this point but this is what I worked for. Will be a full day. #pumped

— Jason Grilli (@GrillCheese49) December 5, 2012

Grilli has been linked to the Brewers numerous times during these Winter Meetings. The potential problem for the Brewers is that Jon Heyman reports that 10 teams were “in” on Grilli. Another “reporter” from Pittsburgh said that it could be as many as 12 teams.

With that being said, it’s my educated guess that the Brewers will have to increase the terms they originally discussed if they are going to acquire Grilli’s services for the 2013 season (and possibly beyond, read: two-year deal). The money will almost assuredly have to increase, just as I stated it likely would in the first place.

Stay tuned. If the Brewers are successful in landing Grilli, I’ll have a full write-up as soon as possible.

***UPDATE: I talked to my contact who passed along the initial info on a discussed Grilli offer from the Brewers. It was indicated that the Brewers have increased the length to two years with an increased AAV over their one-year offer. It could still go up from there without knowledge being passed along as negotiations have picked up pace today.***

***UPDATE #2: Tom Haudricourt tweeted this at 12:23pm CST:

If reliever Jason Grilli is ready to sign with somebody,I’m told it is not the #Brewers.

— Tom (@Haudricourt) December 5, 2012

So…hopefully Sheffield was lying to Cafardo in an attempt to drum up interest. Or perhaps the amount of interest drove the price up to where the Brewers didn’t want to keep fishing.***