All this offseason, the talk was who Yu Darvish would suit up for in 2018. Would the free agent pitcher return to Arlington and rejoin the Rangers? Maybe a trip back to Hollywood and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who he finished last season with, was in the cards.
The answer appeared to have finally arrived Saturday afternoon.
According to multiple sources, the 31-year old righty has agreed to a six-year, $126 million deal with the Chicago Cubs, one of the handful of teams that was in the mix from the beginning. The deal also includes incentives, such as Cy Young Awards, which could push the value up to around $150 million.
At one point the Rangers entertained the thought of a reunion with Darvish if the numbers worked out. However, the organization seems to be leaning against dishing out a lot of money for pitchers over the age of 30 looking for long term deals.
This move also points to the Cubs reloading to make another run towards a World Series championship. They brought home the title in 2016. Darvish said he wanted to go somewhere to have another shot at the World Series after two disastrous starts with the Dodgers during the Fall Classic last year. He was shelled by the eventual champion Houston Astros in Games 3 and 7.
Last month, the Cubs signed catcher Chris Gimenez to a minor league deal. Why was this important? Gimenez was basically the personal catcher for Darvish while the two were in Texas. Looks like Gimenez did some serious recruiting on behalf of the Cubs.
In 31 combined starts for both the Rangers and Dodgers last season, Darvish was 10-12 with a 3.86 ERA. He signed with Texas before the 2012 season and was sent to L-A in a trade deadline deal last July.
