One of the most coveted free agents currently on the market is right-hander Yu Darvish, who spent the 2017 season with the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was heralded as a key acquisition for Los Angeles that would help propel them to the World Series.
While the starting-pitching market has been relatively quiet to this point, Darvish has reportedly drawn interest from several teams, with the Rangers and Dodgers thinking about possible reunions, and the Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs in some level of pursuit.
The Cubs have done a lot to upgrade their pitching staff this offseason, signing reliever Brandon Morrow, formerly of the Dodgers, in addition to starter Tyler Chatwood and reliever Steve Cishek.
For a brief period on Thursday, it appeared as though Cubs may have made their biggest splash yet, as Michael Carl Sterk of Barstool Sports reported that Darvish agreed to sign with the Cubs:
Darvish to Cubs done deal after being evaluated by team docs #scoopcity
— Carl (@barstoolcarl) December 21, 2017
But Darvish himself took to Twitter to dispute the report:
#fakenews https://t.co/he5qmoqhcx
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) December 21, 2017
Realizing he was wrong, Sterk then issued an apology to Darvish:
I'd like to formally apologize to @faridyu for FALSELY REPORTING that he joined the best organization in professional sports. SORRY YU. #shooters #shoot
— Carl (@barstoolcarl) December 21, 2017
While Darvish refuted the report that a deal was in place, this does not rule out him possibly signing with the Cubs in the future.
Chicago lost two starters in Jake Arrieta and John Lackey, who are both free agents that are unlikely to return to the team. So even if they are not able to land Darvish, they will likely turn their pursuit towards another starter.
If they are able to sign Darvish, then they and the Dodgers will once again be the favorites to face off in the National League Championship Series in 2018 for the third consecutive season.
Darvish tossed 6.1 innings of one-run ball against the Cubs in the 2017 NLCS at Wrigley Field.
