CHICAGO – The aggressive San Diego Padres switched to another big arm on Tuesday night, acquiring Yu Darvish in a highly successful deal with the Chicago Cubs.
The Fathers got Darvish, the catcher Victor Caratini and money from the Cubs for the right-handed Zach Davies and four young secondary league players. Scam Caratini caught Darvish in Chicago and hit 0.241 with 16 RBIs last season.
Davies made 7-4 with an ERA of 2.73 in 12 games in San Diego this year. The Chicago candidate package includes Owen Caissie, an 18-year-old outfielder who was selected by the Fathers in the second round of this year’s amateur draft.
Darvish, 34, had 8-3 with an ERA 2.01 in 12 starts to Chicago during the shortened pandemic season, finishing second in the NL Cy Young Award race. He has three years and $ 59 million remaining on the six-year, $ 126 million contract he signed with Cubs before the 2018 season.
San Diego also completed a major exchange on Tuesday with Tampa Bay for southpaw ace Blake Snell. The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner was sent from the Rays to the Fathers for a four-player package: right-handers Luis Patino and Cole Wilcox and catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt – all renowned young people from a San Diego system that is has been supplying the farm for years.
Padres made it to the playoffs this year for the first time since 2006, but his injury-depleted rotation was in tatters when the postseason arrived. They won St. Louis in the first round before being swept away in three Division Series games by their NL West rivals, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mike Clevinger, acquired from Cleveland in August, is not expected to return from Tommy John’s surgery until 2022, but the Fathers have other quality holders in Dinelson Lamet and Chris Paddack. The left-handed MacKenzie Gore is one of baseball’s biggest pitchers.
Darvish is in the midst of a career revival after fighting on his way to Chicago. He was limited to eight matches and 40 entries in 2018 because of injuries. He started to regain his form in 2019, posting an ERA of 2.76 with 118 eliminations in 81 2/3 entries in his 13 final matches.
He started this year from where he left off, helping the Cubs win the NL Central title. The right-handed man attributed part of his turnaround to returning to a more deliberate style that he employed when he was a star of the Japanese launch. He also developed a relationship with Caratini who should help with his transition to San Diego.
Four years after a historic World Series championship, Chicago is reorganizing under Jed Hoyer, who was promoted to president of baseball operations after Theo Epstein stepped down in November. Veterans Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora Jr. were released on December 2, but the Darvish deal is the team’s biggest move since Hoyer took over.
There may be more negotiations on the horizon. Hitter Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo are eligible for the free agency after next season. But the Cubs may still be able to fight while Hoyer remakes the list, due to the cost-cutting atmosphere around Central NL.
Minor league domestic players Reginald Preciado, 17, and Yeison Santana, 20, and outside defender Ismael Mena, 18, were also acquired by Cubs in the Darvish trade.
Fathers acquire RHP Yu Darvish in successful trading with Cubs, originally published on NBCSports.com