Report: James Shields decision to come by end of the week

With spring training fast approaching, it appears the last big-name free agent left on the market is nearing a decision.

Right-hander James Shields is reportedly weighing multiple offers and will sign somewhere by the end of the week according to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports.

Where exactly he might land and how much he'll get is still far from certain. Shields has been linked with over a dozen teams at one point or another this offseason and his price tag has dropped over the last few weeks.

Most recently it's the San Diego Padres, via Morosi, and St. Louis Cardinals, from USA Today's Bob Nightengale, that have had their name attached with the 33-year-old starting pitcher.

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There's also a question to whether or not one of baseball's biggest spenders is in the race. Morosi indicates there's a thought around the league that the New York Yankees are one of the teams in pursuit of Shields. However, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that they're not interested.

The talk that there was a contract offer out there that would have paid Shields $110 million over five years has been widely forgotten and may have been more fiction than fact. Now the expectation is that he'll ultimately end up with a four-year deal worth between $70-$80 million.

So there's still quite a bit of mystery surrounding Shields' situation. All we really know, or think we know, is that one major league team will have added a strong starter pitcher and improved their rotation by the time this week comes to a close.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr

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