Yu Darvish is the best starting pitcher on the MLB free agent market, and it is safe to assume he has received multiple contract offers this winter. The right-hander obviously hasn’t been blown away by any of those offers, but could he also be holding out for one specific team?
According to Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times, the belief is that Darvish wants to remain with the Dodgers and is holding out to see if they can clear enough salary to sign him. As it stands, the Dodgers would not be able to sign Darvish to a multi-year deal and remain under the luxury tax. McCullough mentions Yasmani Grandal, Logan Forsythe and Hyun-Jin Ryu as players who could potentially be moved.
That is one factor in Darvish remaining unsigned, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Yankees are another team to watch if they can shed more contracts. The Brewers have also entered the fray.
Per sources and reports, delay on Darvish seems to be stemming from number of factors: Efforts of #Yankees and #Dodgers to clear salary; entrance of new teams such as #Brewers into bidding; Darvish’s agents waiting to get their price. @RobertMurrayFRS, @McCulloughTimes on it.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 31, 2018
This year’s free agent market has been incredibly slow to develop, but Darvish is eventually going to sign for big money. Reports have indicated that the 31-year-old currently has a five-year offer on the table, and it could be from a National League team with deep pockets.
