"It appears the much-talked- about contract extension for Seattle Mariners star pitcher Felix Hernandez will be announced today.

Hernandez flew from Venezuela to Seattle on Wednesday to take a physical and also to be present for the announcement of what is reported to be a five-year, $78 million extension.

The yearly breakdowns of that $78 million also leaked out Tuesday evening. Hernandez will get a signing bonus of $3.5 million and a $6.5 million salary this season. It will be followed by $10 million in 2011, $18.5 million in 2012, $19.5 million in 2013 and $20 million in 2014. The deal reportedly has a limited no-trade clause and performance incentives, including progressive bonuses for his finish in the American League Cy Young voting.

While the Hernandez deal is being finalized, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik continued his daily search for talent. Zduriencik made sure Seattle was one of 20 or so teams represented at an open workout for right-handed starting pitcher Ben Sheets in Monroe, La.

Sheets, a four-time All-Star with Milwaukee while Zduriencik was with the Brewers, threw for a group of scouts in hopes of landing a major league contract .

Sheets was a free agent after the 2008 season with Milwaukee. Questions about his health, specifically his injured pitching elbow, lowered interest and contract offers. Sheets chose to have surgery in February on the flexor tendon in his pitching elbow in hopes of making a comeback late in the 2009 season. But that never matriculated and he continued rehabbing to try and make a comeback in 2010."