Matt Garza, Brewers reach agreement on 4-year deal

Team owner Mark Attanasio announced that the deal is for four years, but that it is still going through the league’s final approval process, per Rosiak. Earlier reports had pegged the contract at $52 million, but Adam McCalvy of MLB.com says that it will guarantee around $50 million with a vesting option for a fifth year worth an additional $13 million. All told, the total value could reach $67 million if all incentives are reached.

News of the deal first broke on Thursday, but the team quickly denied that a final agreement had been reached. However, it appears that the two sides have hammered out the details and put pen to paper. General manager Doug Melvin reiterated that the holdup had nothing to do with any concerns regarding Garza’s physical, per Rosiak.

Though the amount of money in the deal may seem slight by the standards of recent pitching mega-deals, it is the most the Brewers have ever spent on a free agent (per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

It was long predicted that Masahiro Tanaka’s uncertain status was holding up the resolution of less-attractive free agents such as Garza, Ervin Santana, and Ubaldo Jimenez. With Tanaka agreeing to a contract with the Yankees on Wednesday, it seems that the remaining free agent starters will now be clear to find homes for the 2014 season.