White Sox, John Danks Agree To Extension

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Despite many rumors to the contrary, John Danks isn’t going anywhere. The White Sox have agreed to sign the left-hander to a five-year, $65MM contract extension, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). The news won't be announced before next week, since Danks has to take a physical for the move to become official. Doug Seyller reported the agreement on Twitter five hours ago and appears to have broken the story.

Danks would have been eligible for free agency following the 2012 season, his final year as an arbitration eligible player. Matt Swartz projected a 2012 salary of $7.6MM for the 26-year-old CAA client, who earned $6MM in 2011. That means the White Sox are paying $14-15MM for each of the four free agent seasons the deal buys out (Danks' age 28-31 seasons).

Danks posted a 4.33 ERA with 7.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 43.8% ground ball rate in 170 1/3 innings for the White Sox this past season. Only 16 pitchers in baseball have produced more wins above replacement since 2008 (15.6)