Yu Darvish riles up Padres fans with photo of him and Seiya Suzuki

Yu Darvish sets internet ablaze with photo of him and free agent Seiya Suzuki

Seiya Suzuki’s landing spot is one of the biggest questions of the 2021-22 MLB offseason. The Japanese star drew interest from over a dozen teams when the Hiroshima Carp posted him last fall, and several teams were waiting for the lockout to end so they could continue pursuing him.

So when San Diego Padres star Yu Darvish posted a photo with the top free agent on Friday, it sent Baseball Twitter into a frenzy.

https://twitter.com/faridyu/status/1502473136201109505?s=20&t=hwh8EZtEwEsIAUm_cWT7DA

Darvish also retweeted Suzuki, who is currently in Los Angeles, deciding between his many suitors.

実はLAに来てました！
練習もしっかりできて、気候も最高でめちゃくちゃ最高でーす👍
あったかーーーい#LosAngeles #Wasserman #Joel #スポーツバックス @WassBaseball @backs_sports @31yoshi pic.twitter.com/XqFHsTy4W6
— 【公式】鈴木誠也（Seiya Suzuki）#27 (@suzuki_seiya_sb) March 11, 2022

Unfortunately for Padres fans, Darvish later quote-tweeted himself and clarified:

"“It wasn’t decided to be Padres at all, I just said hello because the agents are the same ”(Translation from Google)"

パドレスに決まったとかでは全くなく、ただエージェントが同じなのでご挨拶しただけです😄 https://t.co/fm1PqqBtll
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) March 12, 2022

While Darvish seems to be making a push for Suzuki to join him in San Diego, insiders have not linked him to the Padres. The Boston Red Sox seemed to be a frontrunner over the winter, but the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago Cubs are also in the mix. The Los Angeles Dodgers recently threw their hats in the ring as well, despite already having a stacked outfield.

Suzuki was originally posted by his Nippon team, the Hiroshima Carp, before the MLB lockout began on December 2, 2021, but due to the work stoppage, his posting window was frozen. When the lockout ended earlier on Thursday, the window reopened. Teams now have 19 days to convince the star outfielder.

Whoever ends up with Suzuki will be adding a formidable bat to their lineup. Scouts have called him the “best player in Japan,” he’s drawn comparisons to Ronald Acuña Jr., and just led Team Japan to the gold medal over Team USA in the last Olympics. Dating back to 2018, he’s hit .319/.435/.592 over 2,167 plate appearances.

If it’s not going to be the Padres, hopefully, it’s a team outside the NL West, so San Diego pitchers don’t have to face him too often.

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