Darvish turns down Brewers to sign with Cubs
In what was a double blow for the Milwaukee Brewers, reports surfaced Saturday that the Chicago Cubs reached agreement on a six-year, $126 million deal with free agent pitcher Yu Darvish.
The Brewers had been in on Darvish for some time and likely was their top pitching target this off-season. Instead, he goes to the NL Central rival Cubs, who add him to an already strong starting rotation.
The Brewers never confirmed they made an offer to Darvish, 31, considered the top pitcher on the free agent market. But various national outlets reported they made a nine-figure bid.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported that both the Brewers and Minnesota Twins made five-year offers to Darvish for more than $100 million. The Los Angeles Dodgers were reported to have made a proposal as well, with a willingness to go six years, but the Cubs snared him instead because LA needed to move money to stay under the luxury tax threshold.
Brewers general manager David Stearns declined to confirm he made an offer to Darvish but did say, "We remain comfortable with our current group. We are always on the lookout for ways to improve the team but I anticipate we will go with the guys we have."
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Darvish's deal could reach $150 million with incentives. It was reported to include no-trade provisions as well as an out clause at some point in the contract. Until the Darvish signing, the freeagent market had been mostly frozen, leading to recent sniping between management and the players union. The biggest previous deal was the five years and $80 million the Brewers gave outfielder Lorenzo Cain.
The addition of Darvish gives the Cubs a powerful starting rotation that should include Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood.
Despite Stearns' comments, the Brewers are expected to continue to monitor the free-agent pitching market, where Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn remain, as well as possible trade opportunities.
As it stands now, the top three pitchers in the Brewers rotation are Chase Anderson, Zach Davies and Jhoulys Chacin, who signed a two-year, $15.5 million free-agent deal earlier in the offseason. Jimmy Nelson is recovering from shoulder surgery and will not be ready for the start of the 2018 season.
Others in the mix at this point are Yovani Gallardo, back with the Brewers on a make-good deal, lefty swingman Brent Suter, 2017 opening day pitcher Junior Guerra and rookies Brandon Woodruff and Aaron Wilkerson.
Darvish began the 2017 season with Texas, where he had pitched his entire career, before being traded to the Dodgers. He made two terrible starts in the World Series, including Game 7, which helped Houston emerge with its first championship.
In 131 games in the majors, Darvish is 56-42 with a 3.42 ERA.