Report: Yu Darvish Trade to Padres Finalizing; Cubs Get Zach Davies, Prospects
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Aaron Doster/Associated Press
A trade sending Yu Darvish from the Chicago Cubs to the San Diego Padres “is on the verge of happening,” per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Victor Caratini is also going to San Diego:
On Sunday, Passan reported the Padres were landing 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported Dec. 21 that Darvish had surfaced in trade rumors but downplayed the likelihood he would leave Chicago:
The move didn’t come as a big surprise, though, since ownership has shown restraint toward the payroll in recent years. Also, in announcing his departure from the organization, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein alluded to “a number of decisions this winter that carry long-term consequences.”
Some took that to mean Chicago was looking to move on from proven stars.
Darvish is under contract for three more years and $59 million, and he’s a four-time All-Star who finished second in the 2020 National League Cy Young Award voting. By trading the veteran right-hander, the Cubs can lessen their financial burden and add some pieces to replenish their farm system.
Here’s how MLB.com ranks the prospects in the Padres system:
That probably won’t satisfy fans who can correctly argue the Cubs have a window to contend right now, thus making it a good idea to keep Darvish around.
Darvish’s Cubs tenure didn’t get off to a great start after a stress reaction in his elbow and a strained triceps limited him to eight starts in 2018. He rebounded with a 3.98 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 2019 before putting together a dominant 2020.
In 12 starts, the 34-year-old averaged 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings and a career-best 1.7 walks per nine innings while posting a 2.23 FIP, per FanGraphs. His 3.0 WAR was first among National League pitchers.
Given his age, you’d think Darvish would be losing some zip. Instead, he averaged a career-high 96.0 mph on his four-seam fastball and 95.1 mph on his sinker, his second-best mark, according to Brooks Baseball.
“I feel like a lot of hitters are behind my fastballs,” Darvish told The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma in August. “It’s coming out good; I have more rise on it than last year. I want to use it when I want to use it, not every time. That works for me too. Because they have to sit on my fastball too. It’s 96-97, and then I throw a lot of breaking balls.”
Opposing hitters have to pick their poison. They need to be wary of the mid-90s fastball and sinker in addition to the biggest arsenal of pitches in MLB. Darvish added the “supreme” in June even though he already had 10 options in his toolkit.
Brooks Baseball offers a more conservative total of eight:
Because the season was so short and started months later than scheduled, Darvish’s 2020 production might be skewed slightly. He could be unable to maintain the kind of performance he showed over a full campaign.
Even if that’s the case, his body of work speaks for itself. His 25.2 WAR since 2012 is 15th-best among pitchers even though he’s made only 182 starts during that span, per FanGraphs, which is 22 fewer than all but one player ahead of him.
His addition will significantly strengthen the San Diego rotation.
With top prospect MacKenzie Gore on the rise, the Padres may have thought they had found a bridge in trading for Mike Clevinger on August 31. Those plans went awry when Clevinger underwent Tommy John surgery in November, likely wiping out his 2021 season.
As bright as Gore’s future is, San Diego is looking to compete right now. Luis Patino, the team’s No. 3 prospect, is the centerpiece of the Snell swap, per Passan.
If Dinelson Lamet’s breakout was a sign of things to come, then the team will have the requisite arms to improve upon a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series. And the Dodgers could have some serious competition in the NL West.