MLB Free Agency: Where does Yu Darvish end up?
By Anthony Sosa
Yu Darvish destination number one: Minnesota Twins
As mentioned in the first slide, Jon Morosi tweeted out that the Minnesota Twins are one of the teams that have had ongoing talks with Yu Darvish. The starter could boost a young Minnesota team that surprised a lot of people in 2017.
The recent news that the Twins are in on Darvish comes at no surprise. Back in November, Twins’ chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said during an interview with Christopher Russo that the team could be in on any big name free agents this offseason, especially when it came to starting pitching.
Heading into 2018 with eyes on competing, the Twins’ rotation could use a bit of help. The current five starter rotation contains Ervin Santana, Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, Adalberto Mejia and Phil Hughes.
Santana is coming off back-to-back outstanding seasons with the Twins. However, his 4.46 FIP last season could lead to some regression in 2018. Berrios proved in 2017, that he’s one of the top up and coming pitchers in today’s game.
Outside of the Twins’ top-two starters, Gibson, Mejia, and Hughes are all shaky starters and could cause Minnesota some problems in 2018. Adding Yu Darvish to the mix would give Minnesota the ace it needs.
Despite finishing with the worst record in 2016, the Twins played tough and found themselves in the second Wild Card spot last season. The team has addressed the bullpen so far this offseason. Through free agency, the Twins signed Fernando Rodney, Addison Reed, and Zach Duke.
If the Twins can sign Darvish, that’ll help them on their quest for another playoff spot in 2018 and maybe even give them a shot at the AL Central.