Athletics, Hideki Matsui Could Be Close To Agreement

MONDAY, 6:54am: Slusser writes that "the deal might be finalized today, with a news conference likely to be held Tuesday if the details are finalized in time."  SI's Jon Heyman believes a deal would be for around $7MM a year.

SUNDAY, 10:46pm: Slusser says that even though Matsui has not yet visited Oakland, the A's are the front runner to sign him with no close second. She's heard about a possible one-year, $5MM contract, but believes that might be low given the two-year, $16MM offer they made to Berkman.

9:35pm: Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle says that the two sides could reach an agreement as early as this week (Twitter links). She adds that Arn Tellem, Matsui's agent, wanted to get proposals this weekend with a decision to follow.

8:10pm: The Athletics could be close to an agreement with Hideki Matsui, tweets Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group. Oakland has had trouble getting free agents to take their money this offseason, most notably getting spurned by Adrian Beltre and Lance Berkman.

Matsui has been connected to the A's pretty much all offseason. The 2009 World Series MVP hit .274/.361/.459 with 21 homers for the Angels this past season, though he was much more impressive after the calendar flipped to June (.300/.392/.498). The 36-year-old Matsui could slot right in at DH for Oakland, though he did make 18 appearances in the outfield in 2010.