Jason Grilli set to re-sign with the Pirates - MLB

UPDATE: Our own Craig Calcaterra reports that Grilli is re-signing with the Pirates, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.

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Jason Grilli’s breakout season as a setup man in Pittsburgh made him a very popular free agent target and agent Gary Sheffield (yes, that Gary Sheffield) has said the right-hander is close to signing.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com he’s narrowed the choices down to the Pirates, Cubs, and Blue Jays, with a two-year deal expected wherever Grilli winds up.

Grilli was a marginal big leaguer for a decade or so, but in two years with the Pirates he threw 91 innings with a 2.76 ERA and 127 strikeouts. That works out to 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings, which was the fifth-highest strikeout rate in baseball during that time behind only Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman, and David Robertson.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred were fired by the Kansas Cty Royals on Wednesday night, shortly after the struggling franchise finished the season 65-97 with a listless 9-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

The Royals had exercised their option on Matheny’s contract for 2023 during spring training, when the club hoped it was turning the corner from also-ran to contender again. But plagued by poor pitching, struggles from young position players and failed experiments with veterans, the Royals were largely out of playoff contention by the middle of summer.

The disappointing product led owner John Sherman last month to fire longtime front office executive Dayton Moore, the architect of back-to-back American League champions and the 2015 World Series title team. Moore was replaced by one of his longtime understudies, J.J. Picollo, who made the decision to fire Matheny hours after the season ended.

Matheny became the fifth big league manager to be fired this year.

Philadelphia’s Joe Girardi was replaced on June 3 by Rob Thomson, who engineered a miraculous turnaround to get the Phillies into the playoffs as a wild-card team. The Angels replaced Joe Maddon with Phil Nevin four days later, Toronto’s Charlie Montoyo was succeeded by John Schneider on July 13 and the Rangers’ Chris Woodward by Tony Beasley on Aug. 15.

In addition, Miami’s Don Mattingly said late last month that he will not return next season.