Zell's Pinstriped Blog, A New York Yankees Fan Blog

According to a source familiar with the negotiations between the Yankees and future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, the 41-year-old will sign a two-year deal believed to be worth $30 million by Friday night.

While the Yankee winter has been dominated by the negotiations between Yankee captain Derek Jeter and the club’s front office, Rivera’s free agent status went quietly under the radar, although his importance is immeasurable.

Thursday night, Rivera’s agent Fernando Cuza – who was one of the many guests at Red Sox slugger David Ortiz’s celebrity golf tournament kickoff dinner – had said the Yankees and Rivera’s camp were “a little far apart” on getting a new deal done for Rivera, and that “hopefully we’ll be able to work it out.” But within hours, a deal came together, perhaps expedited because Rivera had recently received a three-year deal and more money (believed to be in the neighborhood of $17 million per year) from another team, according to the source. The source added that Rivera wanted to maintain his ties to the only team he has ever played for, and went with less money and fewer years to continue wearing pinstripes.

“He wanted to stay loyal to the Yankees,” the source said.

I didn’t see this going any other way. It would be hard to imagine Mo retiring when he still remains the best closer in all of baseball, and I never thought he would ever leave the Yankees organization for some other club.