Rumors Link Yankees to Yu Darvish

According to Patrick of NPB Tracker, the Yankees have been sending scouts to Japan to watch 22-year old righty Yu Darvish.

Sports Hochi ran a piece the other day saying that the Yankees had three scouts watching Yu Darvish make his shortest start of the season, a seven-inning performance in Nippon Ham’s 10-1 win over Orix. Darvish didn’t have his best stuff, topping out at about 91mph, but still held the Buffaloes to one run on four hits.

Obligatory repeating of myself: Darvish is five years away from free agency and has repeatedly denied any interest in moving to MLB. I find it interesting that that doesn’t stop the scouts from watching him though. The Yankees sent Gene Michael to Japan last year to check him out, so they’re obviously interested in acquiring him down the road. Maybe this persistence will pay off.

Patrick really said it all in that final paragraph. I wonder if it would be possible for an American team to make a trade for him before he’s a free agent to avoid the posting fees.