Chicago Cubs: Milwaukee Brewers make offer to Yu Darvish

The Milwaukee Brewers were a bit of a surprise last season. If they were to land Yu Darvish, they could be a real threat to take the NL Central from the Chicago Cubs.

Yahoo! Japan had reported the Milwaukee Brewers made an offer to free agent starting pitcher Yu Darvish. On Sunday night, Ken Rosenthal confirmed that report. If the Brewers were to sign Darvish, they could be a real threat to the Chicago Cubs to win the NL Central.

Several teams have shown interest in the veteran ace, but he still hasn’t found a destination. The Brewers were not expected to be as competitive as they were last year. And it doesn’t look like a fluke that they were just a game away from making the playoffs. There’s some solid young talent on that team.

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Impact on the NL Central

A few years ago–maybe even last year at this time, this kind of news would’ve surprised all of us. The Cubs are the current kings of the National League Central.

But the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates were seen as their closest competitors in the division. Now, though, we’ve seen both teams trading away key players.

The Cardinals still figure to be going for it with their addition of Marcell Ozuna. But they’ll be without Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk in 2018. Both were thought to be an important part of St. Louis’s future.

The Pirates, on the other hand, appear to be in full-on rebuild mode. Now, they won’t necessarily be an easy win when they play the Cubs, but they certainly don’t look better than they were last year. Their top starting pitcher, Gerrit Cole, was traded to the Houston Astros and their star franchise outfielder, Andrew McCutchen, was traded to the San Francisco Giants.

The Brewers, however, will have almost the same lineup that won them 86 games last year. And their lineup was not their weakness during the 2017 season. Yu Darvish would not only give them the pitching help they need to take that next step, but he would also give them a veteran presence.

Still up in the air

No one really knows what kind chances the Brewers have at actually signing him. But if the Cubs aren’t going to be the ones to get him, they’d most definitely prefer he not sign with a different NL Central team.

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Whether or not the Brewers land Darvish, few would argue against the Cubs being the best team in their division. While they shouldn’t overlook the Brewers by any means, the Cubs will still have the better roster, regardless of where Darvish goes.

Some still believe Chicago to be one of the favorites to land Darvish. At this point, it’s hard to say. Darvish, along with former Cub Jake Arrieta, is sure taking their sweet time to decide on a team. Either that or teams are hesitant to sign them since the 2018 free agent class is loaded with stars.