According to a source close to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse, free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche is close to signing with the Baltimore Orioles. However, a source close to MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli says the deal is not close on finalizing yet.

Buster Olney of ESPN adds that LaRoche is looking for a three-year deal.

MASN’s Jen Royle says that the three-year offer for LaRoche in believed to be inin the $16-18 million range or more. He made $4.5 million last season.

The sides have been discussing a deal over the past couple of weeks. As of December 9th, no formal offers had been made yet, but Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun said that it’s only a matter of time.

If LaRoche falls through, the Orioles could go after free agent Derrek Lee.  The Orioles went as far as checking Lee’s medical records last week.

LaRoche, 31, hit .261/.320/.468 with 25 home runs and 100 RBIs for the Diamondbacks in 2010, but his big drawback are his strikeouts.  The left-handed hitter struck out 172 times last season.