Yu Darvish destination number four: Los Angeles Dodgers
In 2017, the Los Angeles Dodgers came within one win of winning their first World Series since 1988. But a rough Game 7 in Los Angeles saw the Houston Astros take home the championship. Darvish played a prominent role in the Dodgers’ loss with his poor pitching performance. Even with that, Darvish could re-sign with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers acquired Yu Darvish at the 2017 trade deadline. They gave up a good haul to get him. The Rangers got top prospect Willie Calhoun and two other prospects A.J. Alexy and Brendon Davis. And although Darvish pitched well for the Dodgers up until the World Series, he still let them down at the most crucial.
With that said, the Dodgers still seem interested in bringing the starter back. Back in December, Dodgers’ GM Farhan Zaidi said that they still were talking with Darvish, per Dodgers beat reporter for MLB.com Ken Gurnick.
Zaidi said the club still is having active dialogue with Darvish, a free agent.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) December 12, 2017
The Dodgers still carry one of the best teams in baseball. And adding Darvish would only make them better. Although they don’t necessarily need him to compete, he could only help them.
With a starting rotation containing Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu, Darvish could break-up that heavy left-handed rotation.
With the way Darvish finished his season with the Dodgers, the right-hander more than likely wants to prove that he can be better in a big moment situation. If the Dodgers and Darvish can work out a deal, they might have some unfinished business to take care of in 2018.