Jays, Morrow nearing extension

The Toronto Blue Jays moved to lock up another core piece Monday by closing in on a US$20-million, three-year contract extension with Brandon Morrow that will avoid arbitration with the right-hander, according to a source.

They also signed veteran infielder Omar Vizquel to a minor-league contract with invitation to spring training, where he will compete for the utility role with incumbent Mike McCoy and off-season acquisition Luis Valbuena.

Morrow's deal is expected to be announced at a news conference Tuesday and includes a $10 million option or a $1 million buyout.

He would have been eligible for free agency after the 2013 season, but instead joins ace Ricky Romero as the club's only starting pitchers signed to multi-year contracts.

It's little surprise that GM Alex Anthopoulos moved to keep Morrow under wraps. Since taking over from J.P. Ricciardi at the end of the 2009 season, Anthopoulos has done the bulk of his spending on keeping his core pieces in-house, previously locking up Adam Lind, Romero, Jose Bautista and Yunel Escobar.

Morrow and the Blue Jays were only $300,000 apart (he asked $4.2 million, the club offered $3.9 million) on a 2012 salary last week when players and clubs exchanged arbitration figures.

It turns out that was a mere formality, as the sides were working toward a longer-term agreement and simply needed more time to hammer it out.

The looming signing leaves reliever Casey Janssen as the club's only arbitration-bound player.

GM Alex Anthopoulos's policy is to go to a hearing once numbers are exchanged unless a multi-year deal is worked out.

Vizquel, 44, is the all-time leader in games played at shortstop and is an 11-time Gold Glove winner, though he's played mostly second and third in a part-time role the past two years with the Chicago White Sox.

He's also 159 hits short of the 3,000 mark.

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.