Despite pitchers and catchers set to report for Spring Training in less than a month, most of the elite free agents have yet to sign with teams.
That includes the top starting pitcher on the market, Yu Darvish, who began the 2017 season with the Texas Rangers, then was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the non-waiver deadline. Darvish has drawn interest from a handful of teams this offseason, with reunions in both Texas and Los Angeles still possibilities.
But perhaps no team has shown more interest than the Minnesota Twins, who have made it clear from the beginning of free agency that signing Darvish is among their biggest priorities.
In a recent appearance at TwinsFest, team owner Jim Pohlad discussed the possibility of signing the four-time All-Star, again restating the Twins’ interest but also expressing some uncertainty over whether that feeling is mutual, via Phil Miller of the Star Tribune:
“I’ve been a Yu Darvish person from the beginning,” Pohlad said at TwinsFest. “But it’s got to make sense. We know where we are willing to be, but that doesn’t mean that’s where Yu is.”
Along with Darvish, the Twins have also been tied to the other three top starters currently available in Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn.
In addition to the Twins, Dodgers and Rangers, the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees could also be involved in the Darvish sweepstakes. The Yankees are believed to have submitted a contract offer.
More recently, it was reported Darvish had at least one five-year contract offer in hand from an unidentified team.
Whoever signs Darvish will be getting an elite-level pitcher, who may be at full strength for the first time since 2014 as he revealed that it won’t be until this upcoming season that he’s fully recovered from his 2015 Tommy John surgery.
