NEW YORK — General Manager Brian Cashman on Thursday confirmed that the New York Yankees are interested in free-agent pitcher Yu Darvish and even suggested the club could abandon its quest to get under the luxury-tax threshold to sign the right-hander.
Darvish, who finished last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers after a midseason trade from the Texas Rangers, started this round of speculation on Wednesday when he seemed to confirm a Fort Worth Star-Telegram report that listed the Rangers, Yankees, Cubs, Astros and Twins as teams he is considering.
“I know one more team is in,” Darvish playfully posted on Twitter in English. (It is believed he means the Dodgers.)
Darvish’s tweeting skills are formidable, but the 31-year-old’s pitching chops are what is likely to land him a contract in excess of $100 million. Even though he was lit up in Game 7 of the World Series against the Astros, Darvish and Jake Arrieta are the top starters on the free-agent market.
Darvish has a career major-league record of 56-42 with a 3.42 ERA.
• Outfielder Aaron Hicks agreed to a $2,825,000, one-year contract with the Yankees, who also settled with reliever Tommy Kahnle at $1,312,500.
TIGERS: Catcher James McCann and Detroit agreed to a $2,375,000, one-year contract that avoided arbitration.
ASTROS: Outfielder Jake Marisnick avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.9 million, one-year contract.
ANGELS: Reliever Blake Parker avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.8 million, one-year contract.
INDIANS: Reliever Zach McAllister and Cleveland agreed to a $2.45 million, one-year contract, a raise from the $1,825,000 he earned last season.
WHITE SOX: The White Sox agreed to a $4.75 million, one-year contract with pitcher Miguel Gonzalez and are bringing him back after trading him late last season.
Gonzalez, who pitched for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2011, was 8-13 with a 4.62 ERA in 27 starts last season for Chicago and Texas, which acquired him on Aug. 31 for infielder Ti’quan Forbes. He was 7-10 with a 4.31 ERA in 22 starts for the White Sox.
BRAVES: Atlanta released third baseman Adonis Garcia so he can play overseas.
The team says on Twitter that Garcia has a “desire to play in South Korea for the 2018 season.”
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