Morning Update On Anibal Sanchez

The morning update on free agent starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez may not be a positive one for Chicago Cubs fans. In case you missed last night, the Cubs and Detroit Tigers were the finalists for free agent starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez. The Cubs had a five year, $75 million offer on the table for Sanchez and the free agent’s agent took that offer back to the Detroit Tigers for an opportunity to match the contract. That is where things stood as we entered Friday Morning. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted nearly a half hour ago that the Cubs have increased their offer to 5 years for $77.5 million while the Tigers remain at $75 million. However, minutes after Rosenthal tweeted the news of the Cubs increasing their offer, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that the Cubs have pulled out of negotiations with Sanchez and that the Tigers were the likely winner of the sweepstakes.

The lesson to be learned here is to be cautious. On Thursday, many reporters were quick to report that the Cubs had a done deal with Sanchez; clearly, that was not the case. As of this initial post, Heyman is the only national reporter to report that the Cubs are no longer in negotiations with Sanchez. It is likely that we will not who Sanchez has signed with until either the Cubs or tigers have made an official announcement.