The Minnesota Twins are doing what they can to build off last season’s surprise playoff run. With a limited payroll and existing in a small market, this includes experimenting with a ton of possibilities.
That came to fruition earlier on Wednesday when Minnesota signed injured former New York Yankees starter Michael Pineda to a two-year contract. This, despite the fact that Pineda will likely miss the 2018 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in July.
It now looks like Minnesota is kicking the tires on another injury-plagued starter with a track record of success. Said player is none other than Los Angeles Dodgers starter Yu Darvish.
According to manager Paul Molitor, the team has “tremendous interest” in Darvish.
“It’s going to be a tremendous get for whoever has the opportunity to get his (Darvish) name on a contract,” Molitor said Wednesday, via the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. “He’s still out there. We’ll see what happens.”
Not too often do we hear someone in Molitor’s position talk specific names. But it’s rather obvious the Twins are interested. Darvish, 31, pitched to a 10-12 record with a 3.86 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in stops with the Rangers and Dodgers this past season.
The Twins’ interest in a top-end starter can’t be considered too surprising. Despite winning 85 games this past season, Ervin Santana was the only regular starter that pitched to an ERA under 3.80. Kyle Gibson, Bartolo Colon and Hector Santiago all posted ERA’s over five in 58 combined starts.
It will definitely be interesting to see what comes of this.