Rosenthal: Rangers, Andrus close on contract extension

Ken Rosenthal just tweeted that, per "sources," the Rangers are close to an 8 year, $120 million contract extension with Elvis Andrus.

The first caveat is that, on the East Coast, it is April 1. That is April Fool's Day. Surely Ken Rosenthal wouldn't be pulling a prank on us, right? But because of this stupid holiday, you never know.

Secondly, Rosenthal is someone who is in tight with Jon Daniels and the Rangers' front office. He broke the original Michael Young trade demand. He's broken other big Rangers stories.

Third, if this is true, this deal is a home run for the Rangers. They lock up their star shortstop through his age 32 season, at a $15 million per year average annual salary. Very reasonable.

I am afraid to hit "publish" on this post, for fear it will turn out to be a hoax. In which case, I will rage.

UPDATE -- Jeff Wilson just put up a blog post in which he says a source has confirmed the Rosenthal story -- the Rangers and Andrus are close on a 8 year, $120 million deal.

UPDATE -- Ken Rosenthal has a story up. There's not much in the way of clarity, though he does suggest this could be buying out just the six free agent years Elvis has left, making it eight years from now. In that case, Elvis would be a free agent after 2020, after his age 30 season.

UPDATE -- Jon Heyman also has a story up about this, and says that it would be an 8 year extension on the current deal, with a possible opt-out clause and a possible option year.