McCarthy, Dodgers close to deal

— -- Free-agent pitcher Brandon McCarthy is close to an agreement on a four-year, $48 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a baseball source confirmed to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old right-hander was acquired by the New York Yankees from the Arizona Diamondbacks in July and was 7-5 with a 2.89 ERA in 14 starts after the trade. In total, he finished 10-15 with a 4.05 ERA in 2014.

The Red Sox, Yankees and Pirates all pursued McCarthy before he settled on the Dodgers.

In 2012, while pitching for the Oakland Athletics, he was hit in a head by a line drive off the bat of the Los Angeles Angels'  Erick Aybar and needed emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain caused by internal bleeding. In 2013, as a member of the Diamondbacks, he suffered a seizure that doctors said was related to the head injury he suffered from the line drive.

In nine seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, A's, Diamondbacks and Yankees, he has a 52-65 record and 4.09 ERA.  He was paid $10,250,000 in 2014.

McCarthy's injury history -- he has made as many as 30 starts just once in his career -- convinced many people that he likely wouldn't get a deal as long as four years, but McCarthy made some believers in his 90 1/3 innings pitching for the Yankees.

McCarthy will join a rotation that includes veterans Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu.

McCarthy, who developed an interest in advanced statistical metrics, and Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi were said to be friends when the two were in Oakland.

Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Mark Saxon was used in this report.