Yu Darvish Rumors: Star 'Increasingly Likely' to Sign This Week, Twins in Talks

Free-agent pitcher Yu Darvish is "increasingly likely to sign with an MLB team this week," according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com. 

Per Morosi, the Minnesota Twins are among the teams still engaged in contract talks with Darvish. 

According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, Darvish is also being courted by the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers and has been offered at least one five-year contract.

Yahoo Japan and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Brewers formally offered Darvish a contract. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune noted, "President Theo Epstein has made no secret of the fact the Cubs would like to add another starter before the season, and Darvish seemingly is at the top of his list."

The Twins, meanwhile, have been linked to Darvish all offseason and have been publicly open about their interest in acquiring the star pitcher.

"We want to make sure that the player and his team understand that we want to be part of discussions and we have targeted him as somebody we have tremendous interest in," Twins manager Paul Molitor said in December, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. "Where that's going to go, where the market's going to go, what we're able to do, how far other teams are willing to go, you know, things you can't control."

Twins general manager Thad Levine called signing Darvish "a priority for us," according to La Velle Neal III of the Star Tribune.

Darvish, 31, finished the 2017 season with a 10-12 record in stints with the Rangers and Dodgers, posting a 3.86 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 209 strikeouts in 186.2 innings. He's arguably the top starting pitcher available, with Jake Arrieta also in that conversation, though he remains unsigned as this offseason's free-agent market continues to move at a snail's pace.