Milwaukee Brewers have submitted an offer to Yu Darvish, per report

The hot stove may finally be heating up in Milwaukee. Earlier tonight there were reports that the club was nearing a trade with an undisclosed team, and that might not be the only thing that Slingin’ David Stearns and his front office have in the works. According to a report from Yahoo! Japan, the Brewers have also recently made a formal contract offer to free agent starter Yu Darvish:

According to a rough Google translation of the report, the Brewers are one of six teams that have issued proposals for Darvish to consider. It also names the Astros, Dodgers, Yankees, and Cubs as suitors for the 31 year old right-hander to consider.

Darvish did struggle on the game’s biggest stage last season, taking losses in two World Series starts - including the deciding Game 7 - as the Dodgers fell to Houston. Since coming over from Japan and joining the Rangers in 2012, however, Darvish has been one of the top pitchers in baseball. He missed all of the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but outside of that he’s produced a 3.42 ERA and 2.65 DRA (60 DRA-) across 832.1 innings with Texas and Los Angeles. His velocity was as strong as ever last season (94.7 MPH average) while he tossed 186.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 65 DRA-, and 209 strikeouts against 58 walks.

The report suggests that Darvish could command a five or six-year offer, which would mean that his asking price may not have fallen much even in the wake of a stagnant free agent market. Darvish cryptically weighed in on the matter himself, via Twitter:

The Brewers are now reported to have made offers to both Darvish and Jake Arrieta. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times they are “in” on Alex Cobb, and Jon Heyman said over the weekend that Cobb and Lance Lynn are seen as “realistic” targets for the Milwaukee Nine.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball Propectus and Fangraphs

Update: