Phillies, Madson Nearing Four-Year Deal

WEDNESDAY, 12:20am: Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and Madson have agreed to a four-year, $44MM deal, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  The contract has been awaiting the approval of Phillies CEO David Montgomery for over a day, however.

Meanwhile, a source close to Madson told CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury Tuesday night that there was no deal and talks were ongoing.  Papelbon may still be in the picture.

TUESDAY, 5:07pm: Yahoo's Tim Brown confirms the sides are discussing a deal worth $44MM over four years plus a fifth-year option for $13MM (Twitter links). Nothing is official yet.

4:36pm: The Phillies are closing in on a four-year deal with Ryan Madson, according to Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio (Twitter links). The contract could include a fifth year vesting option for the Scott Boras client. The sides seem to be discussing an annual salary of $11MM or so for Madson, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).

Madson, 31, became Philadelphia's full-time closer in 2011, converting 32 saves. He posted a 2.37 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 48.8% ground ball rate in 60 2/3 innings of relief. He's a Type A free agent, but the Phillies won't have to surrender a draft pick to sign their own player. However, they would obtain two picks if the right-hander signs elsewhere after turning down arbitration.

If the deal goes through, it would help other free agent closers, none more so than Jonathan Papelbon. No reliever signed a four-year deal last offseason, although five pitchers signed three-year contracts. In fact, no reliever has signed a four-year deal since Scott Linebrink and Francisco Cordero four years ago. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes predicted last month that Madson had a shot at four years.

Bryan Grosnick examines the fantasy implications of the move at CloserNews.com, the destination for reliever-related fantasy baseball content.