Update on Darvish

The New York Post reported late Thursday night that the Blue Jays were the perceived front runners to land Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish. The report speculated that Toronto submitted a bid to the Nippon Ham Fighters between $40-50 million but also mentioned the Cubs submitted a large bid of their own at an unknown value.

Toronto’s Alex Anthopoulos and Texas’ Jon Daniels were the only two general managers to watch Darvish pitch in Japan. The Blue Jays also had multiple scouts watch Darvish throughout his season in the Nippon Professional Baseball League where he posted a 1.44 ERA in 232 innings this season.

The 25-year-old would be a big coup for Anthopoulos, who has made it his offseason priority to upgrade the starting rotation.

– Gregor Chisholm