Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres agree to a six-year, $108 million extension
It appears Yu Darvish will finish his brilliant career with the San Diego Padres.
The right-handed pitcher and the Padres agreed on a six-year, $108 million extension that’ll run through the 2028 season, the team announced Thursday.
Darvish, 36, is coming off one of finest seasons of his nine-year career in the majors, going 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA, 197 strikeouts and a career-best 0.950 WHIP. He finished eighth in the National League Cy Young Award voting.
The deal is team-friendly and a bit of a risk considering the ace will turn 42 in the final year of this deal. His annual average salary of $18 million per year is low for a No. 1 starter.
In 2022, he led the club with 194 ⅔ innings and had strikeout (25.6%) and walk rates (4.8%) that were far better than league average. With 1,788 strikeouts, he has a good chance at reaching 2,500 career strikeouts, depending on his health. Only 39 pitchers in baseball history have reached 2,500 strikeouts.
Darvish made his big-league debut in 2012 with the Texas Rangers and also pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cubs before joining the Padres in a trade with Chicago.
The Padres, who reached the NLCS last season for the first time since 1998, look to return to the playoffs this season after adding shortstop Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million deal in December.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yu Darvish, Padres agree on 6-year, $108 million extension
