After several months of back and forth negotiations, the Twins have submitted a formal offer to Yu Darvish’s camp, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN in the latest episode of his podcast (audio link, Twins talk starting up at the 2:25 mark and running through 11:00).
Exact parameters of the offer aren’t known, but Wolfson cites multiple sources in reporting that the offer is four or five years in length. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) reported yesterday that Darvish has received multiple offers worth $100M+, while Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported earlier today that he has “several” five-year offers. Given all three of those reports, it certainly seems plausible that the Twins have put forth a nine-figure offer to Darvish, which would easily be the largest commitment they’ve ever made to a free agent.
Minnesota, according to Wolfson, remains reluctant to push its offer for Darvish up into the six-year territory. To that end, while Darvish is the top target for the Twins, Minnesota has also remained in touch with the agents for a number of other free-agent starters, ranging from second-tier names like Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn. Other names mentioned by Wolfson include Jaime Garcia, Chris Tillman and Jason Vargas, so the Twins are understandably casting a wide net in the event that Darvish chooses another suitor. Notably, the team hasn’t made an offer to either Lynn or Cobb.
Perhaps more interestingly, Wolfson adds that the Twins are “maintaining pretty regular trade talk” with the Rays about the possibility of acquiring some rotation help, though Tampa Bay remains largely resistant to the idea of parting with coveted top starter Chris Archer. Jake Odorizzi’s name has been connected to the Twins on multiple occasions this offseason, however, and he could yet remain a target for the Twins. (More generally, he adds that the Rays have quite a bit of interest in outfielder Max Kepler, who has been the Twins’ primary right fielder in each of the past two seasons despite the fact that he’s not yet 25 years of age.)
A trade, though, would likely be a more serious option in the event that Darvish signs elsewhere; Wolfson notes that even after learning that Ervin Santana will be out for 10 to 12 weeks following surgery on his right middle finger, the Twins are only looking to fill one rotation spot.
Even with Santana sidelined for as much as the first month of the season, the Twins don’t appear to be in any kind of panic mode. The Athletic’s Dan Hayes wrote yesterday that the Twins believe Santana could be ready on the shorter end of his 10- to 12-week timeline. Even if he takes the full 12 weeks, Wolfson notes that the team will only need a fifth starter two or three times in April, given the large number of off days baked into the early-season schedule.
With Santana on the shelf, the Twins’ rotation will likely consist of whichever free agent/trade target they bring into the mix, in addition to Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson and Adalberto Mejia. The team also has a pair of prospects that have dotted top 100 lists over the past two seasons in Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero, plus veteran Phil Hughes returning from thoracic outlet surgery. Triple-A righties Felix Jorge and Aaron Slegers each saw brief glimpses of MLB action last year as well and could be leaned on for a spot start this coming April. Reliever Tyler Duffey will be stretched back out and given a shot at starting once again this spring as well, Wolfson notes. Righty Trevor May would be another option, though he’s not expected to return until late May, per both Hayes and Wolfson.
Suffice it to say, the Twins aren’t exactly lacking for depth, though the group of arms on which they’ll lean early in the year is, clearly, rife with question marks. A veteran to position at or near the top of the rotation looks all the more like a priority, given that context.
4 to 5 years in length….so 4.2 years?
Doesn’t matter anyway, he probably won’t make it all 5 years
Yes, get him for 2 months of the following year but then becomes a free agent mid season
Is that allowed? Honestly curious of it is ha
Lots of pressure on Darvish now to sign. If he doesn’t it reflects terribly on the players—and by extension the union.
So were all the Twins offers before this informal?
Twins: Hey, Yu over there. You, Yu want cheeseburger?
Yu: Ok
Twins: You sign 5 year, 1 cheeseburger contract with us then. hahaha.
Sounds like only parameters were discussed prior. Though we don’t know when this offer was made. Could have been weeks ago and it’s just now being discovered/reported.
I heard they upped the offer to one of Tony O’s Cuban Sandwich’s…
Cubano!!! Highly recommended.
Still not seeing why this guy is worth 9 figures….decent but not cy young numbers, blows in the post season, and an injury risk….
Stat and Sabre all you like, I’ll never get it.
i’m with you there. only one semi – cy worthy season.
“only one semi – cy worthy season.”
Kind of a tough standard IMO. A guy doesn’t need to win the CY to contribute to winning a WS. Just like Darvish, Jon Lester’s best season was a 2nd place in the CY voting, and he won a WS in both Boston and Chicago. And Darvish has a better career ERA+ than Lester.
Lester World Series 4-1 1.77
Darvish 0-2 21.60 era
Steady good numbers throughout the 162 game schedule. Would you want those 30+ starts coming at a 3.5 ERA or at a 5.2 clip from a half a dozen rookies/swing guys? $100MM+ buys a reliable front-end starter.
3 o his first 4 postseason starts were outstanding. 6 total starts is not enough to say he is truly ad in the postseason.
Kershaw’s career postseason ERA is 4.35
Two World Series turds and that awful start against the Jays.
He is good but not great. I see him as a 2 at best probably a 3 on a dominant staff. As with my Cubbies I can’t understand why the Twins show more interest in him than Arrieta. Jake would be one heck of a boost for the young Twins
I think Darvish is better and the stats tend to back that up. Arrieta tends to get Darvish in ERA, but that’s not something in either pitchers control. The rest is mostly to Darvish’s advantage.
Arrieta’s stats keep declining every year and his velocity too which is a giant red flag on older pitchers. The NL to AL switch would drop his stats if he went to the Twins. Arrieta has a draft pick attached for the Twins, which isn’t much of a problem with the new rules..but it’s something they don’t have to worry about with Darvish.
I was in Darvish’s camp for the most part until those horrendous WS appearances. I just can’t get past that. As a GM I could not in good conscience pay Darvish as an ace when he performed so horribly on baseball’s biggest stage.
He’s not getting “ace” money.
More like a GM in good conscience base his opinion of two starts, because if that were the case then no GM would want Kershaw.
probably between the cubs, Brewers and Twins
Hopefully not the brewers if the offers are in the 5yr/100M-115M range. Like the guy but not at that clip. Taking Darvish through his age 37 season is asking for trouble. Would much rather see the Crew throw that money at Cobb or Lynn then trade for Odorizzi or Duffy for example. A rotation of Cobb, Anderson, Duffy, Nelson and Davies is more than competitive.
You’re dreaming if you think Nelson pitches much this year. Don’t ever believe anything you hear about labrum recovery. It’s the worst possible injury for a throwing athlete and once you’re a fully grown adult, a complete crapshoot in terms of returning to anything that was previously normal let alone pitching at the MLB level.
Bad info, tear was on a contact play so it’s not in the usual spot, it’s in a location that doesn’t effect throwing. I’ve heard May would be late for what they are hoping.
Of course I don’t want the Crew to get him. Hopefully the Twins get him and my Cubbies get serious and bring back Jake. One thing that would crush this Cubs fan is Arrieta getting back in form with your Crew or the Cards.
Why Twins?
They want a reliable starter to pitch the wild card game if they can repeat their 2016 season.
Biggest contract in the history of the org though? On Darvish? For a chance at a wildcard win?
Seems like the definition of short-sighted.
Do nothing and miss the playoffs is a better option? Sure there’s Cobb, who would improve the rotation…but the impact he would make would be far less than Darvish.
Darvish would help for multiple years. It’s not like it would be a one and done thing. Tons of money coming off the books after this year.
Twins need to go after a guy they can put in front of Santana and Berrios. Unless there’s a trade made, Darvish is the only guy available who does that.
Mauer for 8 years 184 mil. A Darvish contract could hurt them long term tho, it’s happened before.
Sure, a major injury can take down anyone and diminish skills which is what happened to Mauer.
So just never sign anyone? That’s the option? Hughes is making way less than Mauer and I’d argue he’s hurt the team way more than Mauer has. Mauer’s contract has never been stopping the Twins from spending money. They have chosen to operate that way. They could easily handle a 130M payroll right now based on supposed revenues. So far, they have chosen not to.
Every player carries risk. It’s unavoidable. Never signing a FA or never extending a core player seems like a bad idea. You should never close an area of acquiring/keeping talent. It only makes it that much harder to compete because then you have to be perfect at drafting or trading.
I never said they shouldn’t sign Darvish.
Ok. Just how the comment came off.
I was replying to shane
Jake Arrieta does. I really watch for him to have at least a couple of rebound years. He is gonna really have a chip on his shoulder after this offseason. If he stays healthy I believe whoever signs him is gonna be really glad. Watched him for several reasons and can tell you one thing. The guy is a beast. He is not ready to go quietly into the night.
No one can blame them for signing Mauer when they did.
I know, just the way it sounded came off as don’t sign Darvish (or anyone) to a big contract because it could get bad quicker than expected.
He can have all the chips on his shoulder that he wants but he struggled last year. Not just in his loss of velocity. He couldn’t find the plate either. This Cub fan hopes he goes to the Brewers or Cardinals for big money.
He’s a free agent after next season.
If they repeat their 2016 season it would be very hard for them to make the Wild Card game.
As far as repeat, I mean their hopes of making it to the wild card game again. Anything can happen though. Who had Rockies and D-backs for NL WC last year?
Go look up the 2016 standings and then you’ll get it
We all know the Twins had a very bad 2016 season. What’s the point of comparing the 2016 to 2018 club? BTW Astro’s finished 2016 in 3rd place in their division at 84-78. Thanks for wasting my time JD
You had typed “if they can repeat their 2016 season” when you meant 2017. They are pointing that out to you.
i wouldnt mind the twins not getting him and going for both lynn and cobb for only a few million more per year
They really don’t have solid answers in the rotation past Berrios, and Santana. Signing Darvish, Lynn, and Cobb to go with Santana and Berrios might even put them into divisional contention.
They are a lot closer to divisional contention than ppl think. Hence the massive need for an arm like Darvish
All three? No chance. I agree they don’t have a lot of certainty beyond Santana and Berrios but they have to see what they have in Meija, May, Gonsalves and Romero at some point. All three are talented arms that are close if not major league ready. Signing Darvish would stabilize the front 3 and provide room for the younger arms.
twins are not a world series contender just yet but they are a playoff contender and a rotation of Santana Cobb Lynn berrios and gibson has a lot better shot at the playoffs then darvish santana berrios gibson and mejia or hughes. and lynn and cobb with cost you 28 million a year and thats about what davish will get
agree w/ joe
Why are the Twins so high on Darvish? Arietta is better
Darvish is much better and theres no draft pick attached
I’m pretty sure it was already reported weeks ago that the Twins had a 5-year offer for him on the table. This isn’t news.
ThinK, it might come to you…
Twins! Lol!
Darvish Santana Berrios Ordorizzi and Gibson ,,,not a bad rotation ……
so if Darvish signs, can we shut the hell up with all of this collusion BS?
The one free agent signing that might actually make a tangible difference is Darvish to the Twins. They need pitching, he’s the best one out there and their division is as weak as any in recent years. He could help make them a playoff team again. Without a pitching upgrade, they are unlikely to make it back.
I think the Red Sox are a wild card team and nothing more whether they sign JDM or not.
I don’t see why either team in on him wants Hosmer but their seasons don’t change signing him.
Arrieta is a landmine.
Darvish, Berrios, Santana (when healthy) is a pretty decent top 3 (and playoff rotation if they get that far). This would be a good signing were it to happen.
Think you and too many people are giving up way too quickly on Jake. He is a battler and a champion. I predict once again he has better numbers at the end of the year than Darvish. Guess time will tell.
Among the people giving up on Arrieta are the Chicago Cubs.
I bet they know something.
I can’t recall a time when a team has made no effort to keep it’s own player while trying to sign the most comparable player to him on the market to replace him.
Theo/Jed disagree.
10 yrs/500 mil. Go for it, Twins, yah!
Your the hero the MLBPA is looking for
I don’t know, I’d go for a high AAV shorter term contract. 5 years, 375 mil.
No! 5 years 500 million. DO IT TWINS!
Shoot! If Darvish signs, there goes the #1 starter for Tony Clark’s FA spring training team!
I wouldn’t mind if they are able to land Dervish, to also trade Kepler for Archer.
Yeah, I’d do something like Kepler, Gordon, Gonsalves/Romero and one other guy for Archer in a heartbeat.
Are you high? Kepler is a gifted stud (second best tools to Buxton) who only gets better and better. Plus that leaves the Twins with only one decent LHH in the lineup in Rosario after ‘18, unless you think slap hitting Granite is a quality replacement for Kep (not even close). As it stands now, Mauer and Dozier are FAs after ‘18, and you just traded LHH Gordon, who steps into a key role at 2B or SS to fill one of those slots. But you also traded one of Gonsalves/Romero, both legit starters in waiting, and necessary ones at that, because Santana leaves after ‘18 (or option year ‘19) along with Gibson after ‘19.
So, is it worth it to mess up the lineup, rotation and overall talent level just to get Archer in a lopsided giveaway of high quality present and near-future MLB talent?
Guess I am, because that’s hardly giving up anything in my eyes.
Trust me, I like Kepler but if he’s the difference between getting a good pitcher who has four years of control left I’m jumping on it. Rooker could be up very soon to replace him in RF and corner OF is much easier to replace than most spots.
Gordon is behind Polanco, Lewis, and Javier in my eyes. So it’s very easy to drop him. Yes, they may need a SS or 2B next year but it’s not like those don’t exist on the FA market for relatively cheap. I have zero clue if Lewis is truly on the fast track but I’ve seen some people say he could be up in 2019 which would be insanely fast. I’m more conservative on that, but it’s still easy to plug a hole for a couple of years.
I like Gonsalves and Romero, though I think Romero goes to the BP unless he develops another pitch. Do I ever think Gonsalves or Romero will be as good as Archer in the majors? No. I do not think that. I’d give up six years of control of one to get four years of control with another pitcher who is already MLB proven. If Archer or a hypothetical pitcher only had two years of control then I wouldn’t do it.
They may need another SP next year, yes…but that happens with or without an Archer and with or without trading an SP prospect. Most prospects don’t hit the ground running (Berrios) to expect lesser prospects Gonsalves and Romero to do it is expecting a lot. It’s not impossible, but counting on it would be foolish. Twins would be wise to trade some prospects instead of holding on to them as if every single one will work out. The Twins don’t have a great drafting history. They are middle of the pack or worse. Losing one SP prospect in a trade isn’t going to kill them, not when they have three to four others who will be ready either this year or next.
So yes, I do that trade in a heartbeat.
Twins33 and Walttillthisyear – Don’t fight guys. The Rays aren’t accepting that package for Archer in a million years.
I figured they wouldn’t. Just saying I would do it. Buxton, Lewis, Berrios and Graterol would be my only untouchables in a trade for Archer. Maybe Enlow too, but that would be it.
Who plays the empty OF spot? Granite?
Granite if you absolutely have to. I’d go with Gomez, Maybin or Dyson on a one year deal. In 2019 it’ll be Rooker or Wade.
I think you’re going to be surprised by how good Granite is going to be. That said, I wouldn’t trade Kepler under any circumstances.
Granite reminds me of Grossman, but with less power, fewer strikeouts and better defense. I do like him. I just don’t know that he’s an every day player due to the lack of power.
I would trade Kepler in the right deal. This team will be going nowhere now or in the future if they don’t add better pitching. Their problem is not offense.
thou shall not covet the other teams pitchers
It’s only February. Are we sure it’s not too soon to make an offer to a free agent?
“Ken Rosenthal reported that Darvish has received multiple offers of 100 million+”??? He has??? Or has he said that Darvish’s camp claims this. They’d be the only ones to know. How would Ken know what Darvish has received. I suspect what Ken said was much more about claims and reports than about facts as this article wants to suggest.
Yes, this site is is called Trade RUMORS, not trade facts. Facts are for later.
Why on Earth would his agent even bother fielding calls from Minnesota. I know the market is slow but these guys don’t have the means to sign a player the caliber of darvish.
I understand Minnesota had a decent year last year but they got absolutely waxed by the Yankees in that playoff game. It was embarrassing to watch the disparity between the Yankees and twins. Shame the Yankees had to even waste their time playing such a middling opponent but that’s what the new wild card rule calls for.
Anyway I think most baseball fans with even an average IQ can see that this pursuit of darvish is simply a waste of time that has almost no chance to come to fruition. Just call the Cubs and get the deal done already.
You’re trolling. MIN is a good team, but if you’ve followed them throughout the years, you should know NYY is their Kryptonite. (I don’t know why)
PS- They took 3-0 lead against NYY in that WC game. It’s not like they were embarrased. I’m a Yankee fan, and I considered the possibility of them losing after that 0-3 deficit, despite NYY’s record against MIN (out of all the teams, MIN is the team, that’s the easiest for NYY to beat, and it has nothing to do with talent)
Lol 3 runs is nothing. I’m a Yankee fan myself I knew we would come back. You think they are a good team to me they are a product of an insanely weak AL Central nothing more. They are nowhere near the top teams in AL but this silly 2nd wild card got them in the playoffs for a day.
Well that explains. Only the Yankees deserve premier free agents right? The arrogance of your fan base, lol.
Why do you choose to selectively ignore me, to focus on him, as guy to generalize entire NYY fanbase on?
Because it doesn’t fit your narrative?
because there are way more of his types on this site then your types
You sound fun!
This matchup clearly goes beyond talent.
“Minnesota had posted a losing record against NYY every year since 2002. That’s 15 straight seasons. The Twins collective record in that span is 31-78. There are three different years in that time — 2002, ‘03 and ‘09 — in which Twins didn’t win a single game against Yankees. Twins pitchers have a 5.09 ERA and surrendered 150 home runs in 121G to the Yankees since ‘02”
si.com/mlb/2017/09/20/twins-yankees-record-wild-ca…
The Twins typically do terrible against AL East teams. It’s not just the Yankees.
Joe Nathan vs the Yankees is particularly disturbing.
It’s called stealing signs, and the Yankees are the best at it. Look at their team BA against top pitchers in the league. They all get killed against the Yankees.
Mr. President, please go back to Twitter.
Best days are behind him.. enough said!…Huge mistake if true.
Yu is still dreaming that the Dodgers want him back or the Yankees and thinking at 6yr and 150mil. Someone needs to let him know that neither is happening. He had TJ surgery and it is know that anyone who had it has five years until they need another one and could be done. I think a 4yr 80mil is what he should get, but he will get 100mil unless the rumors are lies.
Really hoping Milwaukee stays away from him. He either chokes in big games or gets hurt. Not worth 4-5 years
Milwaukee needs to first get to a playoff before worrying about darvish choking…Sorry i had too..I see your point though lol
Sounds like it may be a tepid “competitive” contract offer from the Twins. The Twins aren’t going to beat out a similar offer from the Cubs, but it’s tough to say what the offer really looks like. I would think it was a 5 year offer, otherwise, why even bother unless it’s a starting point for negotiations?
Mike Berardino, a Twins reporter, cited an undisclosed front office employee and throwing cold water on any potential $150M offer from the Twins.
It would be really interesting to know what the offers look like. If there are 3 nearly identical offers on the table Cubs/Twins/Brewers, it would certainly fuel the collusion theory a vocal, but tiny minority of fans have been pushing.
The arguments against Darvish being an “ace” seem pretty weak from where I’ve been looking. Almost nobody in baseball has delivered more fWAR per inning than Darvish over the past 2 seasons after returning from TJ. He’s a pitcher who is delivering about 5 fWAR per full 200 inning season, but he’s been hit with a little of the unlucky HR/FB rate. The abnormally high HR rate is likely the source for the high pitch counts reducing his innings, but his velocity, swinging strike rate, and control have all looked good. He’s certainly looking like a candidate for a major bounce back season to me.
As far as his durability otherwise, tons of pitchers get TJ, but Darvish was routinely seeing over 100 pitches per outing with the Rangers last year with 12 starts of at least 7.0 innings and 20 of at least 6.0 innings. Greinke managed of 6.0 or more inning with one more game started and is 34, yet we don’t hear the same durability argument there.
Darvish has a track record of durability from Japan, delivers elite fWAR per inning, hasn’t seen a drop in velocity or non-luck based peripherals, and is the de facto absolute best pitcher on the free agent market right now. In a year where the Dodgers, Yankees, Giants and Red Sox are at their spending caps or resetting luxury tax, Darvish should be generating a ton of interest from mid-market teams.
If the Yankees or Dodgers weren’t resetting luxury tax thresholds, Darvish would have a 6 year offer on the table at $150-170M. He’s a steal at anything under $150M in a free market.
I would love to have the major free agent standoff be broken up by the Twins signing a major FA for the first time since essentially ever
If he is in to Japanese food and stores, Minnesota is slim-pickings.
Of course, if he gets the money, he can hire a chef, and order what he needs…
When I lived in Japan, every Nomo start for the Brewers was on TV. I really enjoyed the broadcasts.
I wish I could have seen twins games!
I just wrote a comment, and then had a thought…
There are direct flights from Tokyo to Minneapolis nearly every day.
From other cities, there’d be just one transfer in Detroit.
Maybe the city or state could chip-in, so they could cash in on Darvish-related tourism.