Yu Darvish is a free agent. Darvish is meeting with the Rangers’ general manager, Jon Daniels, Wednesday night. You would think this means that the Rangers are in the market for a Darvish return, but apparently, that’s not what’s happening here.
The Rangers are meeting with Yu Darvish, but not to talk free agency
Wednesday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at Darvish’s dinner date with Jon Daniels.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Jeff Wilson reported Darvish and Daniels are having dinner without Darvish’s representation present, and without any business being discussed. This is apparently a dinner that was planned to happen back in November, but did not, so it is now going down during what is traditionally a quiet time for free agent movement, days before Christmas.
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Evan Grant reports the Rangers are maintaining their position of avoiding the top of the free agent market this winter, and that this was meant to be something like an exit interview for Darvish, considering he was traded at literally the last minute from the Rangers to the Dodgers at the trade deadline this past summer.
Sorry, Rangers fans, but a Darvish return, given these reports, seems unlikely. To make matters worse, he did meet with Texas’ cross-state rivals, the Astros, Tuesday. Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and Darvish would make for a serious 1-2-3 in the defending champion’s rotation, especially when you consider that it was their league-best lineup that put them in a position for that title in the first place.
Darvish is one of the top free agents available, despite his postseason performance that saw him tipping his pitches, which also helped lead to the Astros winning the World Series. After Darvish and Jake Arrieta, the market begins to thin out, though, quality options like Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb remain available as well.
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