Reports: Rangers, P Colon closing in on minors pact

The Texas Rangers are closing in on signing 44-year-old right-hander Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal, according to multiple reports Saturday.

The proposed minor league pact would include an invite to major league spring training, according to a report from MLB.com.

Colon, a 20-year MLB veteran, posted a 6.48 ERA in 28 starts between the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins last season. However, the right-hander was an All-Star with the New York Mets as recently as 2016, when he went 15-8 with a 3.43 ERA in 34 games (33 starts).

Colon has been named an All-Star four times in his career and won the American League Cy Young as a member of the Los Angeles Angels in 2005. He is 240-176 lifetime with a 4.04 ERA.

Colon's 240 major league wins are five shy of tying Dennis Martinez's record for a Latin American-born pitcher and three shy of tying Juan Marichal's mark for a Dominican-born hurler.

Colon, affectionately referred to as "Big Sexy" in recent years, has told reporters on several occasions that he promised his late mother, Adriana, as she passed away in 2014 that he wants to pitch until he's 45 years old. He'll turn 45 on May 24.

--Field Level Media