Spring Training is on the horizon and there hasn’t been a lot of movement on the free agent market. However, the Minnesota Twins have fanned the flames of the hot stove.
The Minnesota Twins have reportedly made their play for Yu Darvish and offered him a contract. Ken Rosenthal has reported that Darvish has contract offers of $100+ million and Bob Nightengale reports of multiple 5-year deals. It can only be assumed, but the Twins offer may be in that ballpark amount. If Minnesota signs Darvish, it will change everything within the American League Central and Twins fans can use some good news right now.
Ervin Santana will miss the start of the season for the Minnesota Twins and the rotation will struggle to recover. Darvish instantly brings credibility to the rotation and pushes Minnesota to the next level.
What Darvish brings to the table
Darvish is two years removed from having Tommy John surgery and his performance last season was encouraging. He had a 3.86 ERA in 183 2/3 innings pitched splitting time between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers. His 10.1 K/9 is the lowest of his career, but that’s still a respectable number for a starting pitcher.
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For his career, Darvish has shown a great ability to limit walks. Darvish had a career low 2.8 BB/9 last season and looks like he’s completely healthy. His high strikeout numbers mixed with low walk numbers place Darvish amongst the elite pitchers in MLB.
However, Darvish is not in the same class as Clayton Kershaw or Max Sherzer. The big thing that stands out negatively about Darvish is his lack of playoff success. He looked lost during his appearances in the National League playoffs with the Dodgers last season. However, Darvish is really solid in the regular season, and one bad stretch doesn’t define a player.
Darvish and Santana at the top of the Minnesota Twins rotation will be one of the best one-two punches in MLB. The Twins need pitching and Darvish needs a home. Minnesota is a dark horse candidate to land Darvish, but they’re the perfect landing spot.
Next: Why should the Twins sign Yu Darvish?
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