The longer Yu Darvish sits out on the free-agent market, the more some will clamor for the Yankees to blow past the luxury-tax threshold and sign the strikeout artist.
While that's not likely to happen anytime soon, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman could try to find a creative way to sign Darvish and stay under the tax for the 2018 season.
The easiest path: Swapping Jacoby Ellsbury for salary relief. But with a glut of better outfielders still waiting for a good offer in free agency, it's almost impossible to imagine a team taking on Ellsbury for nothing.