Minnesota Twins: Could 5th year be the difference in Darvish?

Per report, the Minnesota Twins could have the inside track to one of the biggest free agents by offering a fifth year on his deal.

The Minnesota Twins have reportedly pondered a five-year deal to prized free agent starter Yu Darvish, per a report from Jon Morosi of MLB.com.

Yu’s suitors

According to the report by Morosi (and gleaned from other reports throughout the offseason), the Twins have discussed a five-year deal with Darvish.

That same report mentioned that the Chicago Cubs are still interested in Darvish, but that their limit is four years. The Los Angeles Dodgers may be willing to go to five years in a deal, but they will need to clear payroll space to avoid having to pay the luxury tax before signing Darvish, so multiple trades would need to happen before the Dodgers could move on Darvish.

Darvish was made an offer by the Milwaukee Brewers, but that was before the team added Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich, and Matt Albers, though they still have room to add another free agent, but with Cain and Yelich’s contracts getting larger the next four seasons, there may not be the room for a deal quite to Darvish’s level.

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The Philadelphia Phillies have reached out to Darvish as they have to other prominent free agents, hoping to strike a deal with any prominent free agent this winter whose market doesn’t develop, and the interest that Darvish has been receiving likely precludes such a “deal”.

The Rangers have expressed some level of interest, but there have been reports throughout the winter that they do not want to get into the years or the annual dollar figures that are being discussed by Darvish’s camp at this point.

Other teams that have been mentioned have been the Yankees and Mariners, but other acquisitions this winter have likely removed them from the competition for Yu’s services.

So while the Minnesota Twins may not be willing to make the top of the market offer in annual value, their willingness to go to a fifth year could certainly get them into the final decision and shows how series the team is in their pursuit of a top starter this offseason!

Next: Who will be next in Twins team HOF?

With pitchers and catchers reporting in just two weeks, these deals have to start getting signed soon, right? RIGHT??