Yu Darvish was acquired by the Los Angeles Dodgers to solidify their rotation as the team embarked on their first World Series appearance since winning the 1988 World Series.
Although Darvish was chased in Game 7 of the World Series and took the loss to the Houston Astros, the 31-year-old finished with a 4-3 regular season record with a 3.44 earned run average in nine starts. Unfortunately for Dodgers fans, Darvish failed to live up to his stature in the post-season, finishing 2-2 with a 6.14 ERA in four appearances.
Despite his shaky playoffs, Darvish took the time to thank Dodgers fans for taking him after he was acquired from the Texas Rangers on MLB trade deadline day, and shared a special message on his Instagram to the Dodger faithful.
Darvish was in the final year of his six-year, $60,000,000 he signed with the Rangers in 2012. He’s widely regarded as not only the top pitching free agent on the market this winter, but the top free agent in all of baseball.
While the Dodgers could re-sign the Japanese starter, it seems unlikely he’ll be returning to La La land given that the Dodgers new regime actually wants to lower their league leading payroll.
Factor in the Darvish’s statistical regression, his post-season struggles, and the notion of Darvish iwill likely seek somewhere of roughly $150 million over six-years, the price to re-sign him will likely be too expensive given that their rotation already features Clayton Kershaw making over $30 million per season.
(h/t Yu Darvish)https://www.instagram.com/darvishsefat11/
