Mets to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka to MLB deal

The New York Mets are finalizing a deal with free agent right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka that would add the veteran to the big-league rotation right away, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Matsuzaka, 32, asked for and was granted his release from the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday after spending the first four-plus months of the year pitching at Triple-A. The right-hander pitched pretty well in Columbus -- posting a 3.92 earned-run average in 103⅔ innings -- but the Tribe never gave him a shot with the big-league club.

Dice-K is joining a Mets rotation that has been plagued by injury woes all year and is dangerously thin on starters. Johan Santana and Shaun Marcum have been out for some time, and they were recently joined on the sidelines by Jeremy Hefner and Jenrry Mejia, who are both dealing with serious elbow injuries. The Mets are also expected to shut down staff ace Matt Harvey sometime in September, so Dice-K also gives the team another veteran option when that eventually happens.

All of Matsuzaka's MLB playing time came in his injury-plagued stint with the Boston Red Sox. The right-hander owns a 4.52 earned-run average in nearly 670 big-league innings, and has posted an ERA under four-and-a-half only once in his six-year career.