*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
Talk about a deal that came out of nowhere. The San Diego Padres and RHP Yu Darvish have agreed to a 6 year, $108 million contract extension, according to MLB.com's AJ Cassavell. The deal has been confirmed by the Padres.
Prior to the extension, Darvish was scheduled to hit free agency following the 2023 season, the last of a 6 year contract. This extension now nullifies the final year of his previous contract and keeps him in town through his age 41 season. The AAV is $18 million, but the contract is frontloaded, with Darvish making $59 million of his salary in the first 3 seasons.
Darvish enjoyed a fine second season with the Padres since being traded by the Chicago Cubs. He authored a 0.95 WHIP, 3.10 ERA, and 3.31 FIP, tossing 194 2/3 innings while striking out 197 hitters over 30 starts. In 25 innings in the playoffs, Darvish allowed 8 runs in 4 starts.
Last season, Darvish struggled with strikeouts, posting a career worst strikeouts rate. However, the trade off is he didn't walk many batters, posting the 4th best strikeout to walk rate among qualified NL starting pitchers, behind only Carlos Rodon, Aaron Nola, and Corbin Burnes.
Darvish has suited up for 4 different teams in 10 MLB seasons since coming over from Japan. In that time, he has a 3.50 ERA, 3.46 FIP, and 1.13 WHIP, making 242 starts while throwing 1,488 innings, including two complete games. Darvish has a 4.19 ERA over 58 innings pitched and 11 starts in the postseason.
The Padres won't see a lot of Darvish during spring training, as he'll be representing Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, set to start in less than a month. Between his time in Japan and the majors, Darvish became the second player with 3,000 strikeouts combined between both leagues, joining Hideo Nomo.
Extending Darvish is the latest move in a big offseason for the Padres. In addition to re-signing Nick Martinez and Robert Suarez, they also brought aboard Xander Bogaerts, Adam Engel, Matt Carpenter, Seth Lugo, and Nelson Cruz via free agency.
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