11:43am: Valverde is talking with a number of teams, including the Marlins, but no deal is imminent, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
11:27am: The report that the sides are nearing a deal is "utterly false," Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. One of Spencer's sources suspects Boras is "trying to drum up attention when no market exists."
10:23am: The Marlins are nearing a one-year deal with free agent reliever Jose Valverde, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com reports (on Twitter). The Boras Corporation represents Valverde.
Valverde, who turns 35 next month, spent the past three years as the Tigers' closer. The right-hander converted all 49 of his save chances in 2011, but his performance dropped off last year, when he posted a 3.78 ERA with 6.3 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and 35 saves in 69 innings. He lost his closing job in the playoffs, with the Tigers turning to Phil Coke and others in high-leverage situations. Valverde posted a 34.0% ground ball rate in 2012 while averaging 93.4 mph with his fastball.
Valverde entered the offseason ranked 44th on MLBTR's list of top free agents available. The Mets had interest in Valverde, who was unsure if he would pitch in 2013 back in October. The Tigers made it clear that they were not going to bring him back to Detroit.
Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Wilson and Mark Lowe are among the other free agent relievers available, as MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows. Valverde could end up closing for the Marlins, who currently have internal options such as Steve Cishek and Ryan Webb. Follow @closernews on Twitter for closer-related fantasy baseball news and analysis.
