The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers remain interested in free agent starter Yu Darvish but only if they can lower their payroll, according to a new report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
The Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers also have spoken to Darvish about a potential deal.
Rosenthal expects that Darvish will receive somewhere between $20 million and $25 million per season on his new contract which could be problematic for the Yankees and Dodgers. But he has a couple ideas for how those teams could make a deal with Darvish work.
“One way would be by shedding other salaries,” Rosenthal wrote. “Another would be by giving Darvish a longer term to lower his luxury-tax number, which is determined by average annual value.”
Darvish, 31, split time with the Rangers and Dodgers last season. In 31 starts, he had a 3.86 ERA with 209 strikeouts.
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