Cubs reportedly meeting with Darvish in Texas |
Theo Epstein has already signed four pitchers during the offseason but apparently, he is still ready to make more moves.
The Cubs are in the running for the services of free agent pitcher Yu Darvish and Cubs executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer traveled to Dallas, Tx. to meet with the four-time All-Star according to multiple reports. For the 2017 season, Darvish was 10-12 with 3.86 ERA with 209 strikeouts and 1.16 WHIP. During his MLB career, Darvish is 56-42 with 3.42 ERA with 1021 strikeouts and 1.18 WHIP. Recently, the Cubs may have shifted from trying to sign free agent pitcher Alex Cobb after his reported $18 million price tag per season that his agent has been trying to get from various teams including the Cubs and Yankees. MLB insider Bruce Levine reports that the Cubs feel the price for Cobb is "prohibitive" for their team. Since Darvish was part of a midseason trade, the team that signs him will not have to give up a draft pick for compensation. Mlbtraderumors.com has Darvish ranked as their No. 1 free agent overall and had him projected recently to go to the Cubs with a six-year deal worth 160 million. "The 31-year-old righty should have no problem setting a new free agent record for a Tommy John survivor, passing Jordan Zimmermann’s five-year, $110MM deal," MLBTR.com said. "Seven-year contracts have historically been reserved for slightly younger pitchers without elbow surgery on their resume, so we’re expecting six years for Darvish. Free agent starters have exceeded a $25MM salary four different times, and we’re projecting Darvish to become the fifth."
