Our months-long nightmare (or enjoyable obsession, depending on your perspective) may finally be drawing to a close.
Source: Yu Darvish is increasingly likely to sign with an @MLB team this week. #Twins are among the teams with whom he is engaged in ongoing discussions. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 24, 2018
That jives with what Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney were saying yesterday about the increased momentum in talks, and it also squares with my overall sense of how these things tend to go when the Cubs are seriously engaged with a player (as in: it often suddenly gets quiet).
That said … how about that Twins mention, eh? The only team Morosi specifies, despite the fact that we know many more teams are involved, including the Cubs. Is Morosi just reminding folks that the Twins are seriously in? Is his source implying that they are the favorites at this point? I don’t think he would include the Twins – and only the Twins – if there was absolutely no relationship whatsoever to his initial sourced comment, so I think it’s fair to conclude from this tweet that (1) the Twins must be getting close to what Darvish would view as an acceptable offer, and (2) a decision – either with respect to the Twins or another team – is likely coming this week.
We know that the Cubs are engaged in talks with Darvish, too, so maybe they’ve pushed the Twins or vice versa this week. There’s also that report out there about an offer from the Brewers.
I wouldn’t say this report makes me any more nervous than I was before about this whole process, even as I’ve let myself get way too attached to the idea of the Cubs signing Darvish. There have been a relatively large number of teams involved at various points, despite the uneven market, and free agency is never a sure bet, even if you’re the “favorite” (and we don’t know that the Cubs ever were the favorite!). The Cubs might shoot their shot and still miss.
Would the Twins really outbid the Cubs at this point (word was they were out if the price approached $150 million)? Would Darvish really choose the Twins if they didn’t top the rest of the suitors?
OK, I lied. I guess this did make me a little more nervous.