Chicago Cubs: Yu Darvish update, Rangers out?
By Eric Brown
Friday afternoon Cubs fans received some great news, the Rangers do not think they will be one of the final teams for Yu Darvish.
The Chicago Cubs have been involved in the Yu Darvish sweepstakes seemingly since his Dodgers knocked Chicago out of the playoffs’ this past season. The Cubs are looking for a replacement in the scenario that former pitcher Jake Arrieta does not resign with the team on a long-term deal. Early on it looked as if the Cubs were in fact the favorite to land Darvish, however with just two weeks left nobody knows where he is going to sign.
But, as it all appeared to be a mysterious signing, one team believes they are out of the race. That would be Darvish’s former team, the Texas Rangers. Rangers’ GM Jon Daniels spoke on the matter during an interview on MLB Network Radio for SiriusXM, “We’ve maintained contact with Darvish, but I think it’s unlikely we bring in one of the upper end pitchers”.
Doesn't sound likely Yu Darvish will be returning to the #Rangers pic.twitter.com/6oicyXGnab
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) February 2, 2018
With the Rangers essentially ruling out a Darvish reunion, the remaining teams must be happy as it will be one less team they have to contend with to sign the star pitcher.
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Despite a rough 2017 season, including a disastrous postseason run that saw Yu become arguably the Dodgers worst pitcher, he is still one of the most sought after pitching stars during this free agency.
In his second full season since Tommy John surgery, Darvish split time with the Dodgers and the aforementioned Rangers. In 22 games with Texas, he pitched to a 4.01 ERA with 148 strikeouts, while in 9 games pitched for Los Angeles, he threw 61 strikeouts and a 3.44 ERA.
The Dodgers traded for him hoping that he could provide with a much needed veteran presence in the playoffs. He did well enough during the NLDS and the NLCS that the team trusted him enough to hand him two world series starts. During those two starts, Darvish had one of the most unforgettable postseason games in recent memory.
Next: Cubs sign Peter Bourjos to minor-league deal
With this latest development, it appears that the Cubs are still in the running for Darvish, if not the frontrunners. What do you think of Chicago signing Yu? Would you rather the team make a run at Arrieta instead? Let us know in the comments below.