The Cubs’ interest in Yu Darvish started to become public right around the same time the baseball world began exiting Orlando in droves. It was an interesting connection and one those close to the Cubs would have bet against just a couple months ago. But the course of the offseason is rarely predictable at season’s end. And this winter, in particular, is going quite differently than many expected.



Team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer were in Dallas Monday meeting with Darvish and his representatives. That they’ve gone this far down the road and are past merely “checking in” on Darvish, which this Cubs front office does with nearly every free agent, says something about the current market.



When the season ended, Epstein explained his thought process on spending big money on free-agent pitchers.



“You don’t want to make a habit out of trying to solve your problems with high-priced pitching free...