The San Diego Padres made another splash out of season, as they are about to acquire the right-handed ace Yu Darvish from the Cubs as part of a seven-player exchange, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. Jon Heyman adds that the agreement was agreed pending the usual review of the medical records of the players involved and should be finalized shortly. RJ Anderson of CBS Sports was the first to report that the two sides were close and, according to Feinsand, the Cubs will receive veteran Zach Davies and a package of four candidates in a deal closed on Monday night. The Fathers will also place the catcher Victor Caratini in the trade.
Darvish’s switch comes not long after the Fathers, leaving a playoff season in 2020, struck a deal with the Rays for southpaw Blake Snell and reportedly reached a deal with Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim.
Darvish, 34, is coming out of a season in which he posted the best ERA + (221) and the best strikes-to-walk ratio (6.64) of his career, albeit in just 12 matches. Darvish’s performance was such that it earned him a second place in the National League’s Cy Young Award vote, behind then-powerful Trevor Bauer of the Cincinnati Reds. (Bauer is now a free agent.) In three seasons with the Cubs, Darvish compiled an ERA of 3.60 (121 ERA +) with a streak ratio of 4.08. Darvish has three years and $ 59 million left in his contract.
Caratini, 27, served as Darvish’s personal catcher in 2020 and for much of 2019. He is a hitter who hit 0.250 / 0.327 / 0.372 in parts of four major league seasons.
At the moment, the Padres’ 2021 rotation includes Darvish, Snell, Dinelson Lamet and Chris Paddack. In addition, the great candidate MacKenzie Gore is not far from the highest level, and Mike Clevinger will return in 2022 after recovering from Tommy John’s surgery.
As for the Cubs’ side of things, Davies, who will be 28 in February, will give the Cubs a much-needed rotation help. The right-hander has an ERA + career of 114 and a K / BB ratio of 2.50 in 123 career starts. He’s in line to be eligible for a free agency after next season.
The prospects that the Cubs will have are shortstop Reginald Preciado, outfielder Owen Caissie, outfielder Ismael Mena and shortstop Yeison Santana. Preciado, 17, is a potential field player with five tools, whose $ 1.3 million signing bonus set a record for a potential customer outside of Panama. From the Cubs’ point of view, Preciado seems to be the most promising addition.
18-year-old Caissie was chosen in Canada’s second round and boasts projectable strength and sufficient arm for the right field. Mena, 18, has a solid offensive toolkit, excellent speed and promising range in the field. It also has the potential to develop more power on the left. Santana, 20, showed strong numbers at two lower levels. He has the arm to stay on the left side of the infield and good bat skills for the ball with the promise of more strength when he fills.