Longtime major league starter and current starter for the Padres Yu Darvish thinking about retirement. A report from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune revealed that Darvish is set to retire. Darvish’s agent, Joel Wolfe, denied that report. “Yu hasn’t made a final decision. This is a tough issue we’re still working on,” Wolfe said (link via ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez).
Darvish addressed the situation in a statement on his X account. “While I’m leaning towards voiding the contract,” he said, “there’s a lot that needs to be discussed with the Padres so the finer details are yet to be decided. And I’m not going to announce my retirement. Right now I’m completely focused on rehabbing my elbow, and when I get to the point where I can start competing again, I’m going to compete again. I feel like I can’t do that, I’m going to announce my retirement.”
The right-hander, 39, is owed $43MM over 2026-28 from the extension he signed with the Padres in April 2023. If he retires without reaching compensation, he will lose that money. As Darvish has indicated, he and the Padres could work on a buyout that would see him keep a portion of his salary while providing the team with significant cost savings over the next three years.
If he decides to retire, he will be doing a good 21-year career in Nippon Professional Baseball and Japan’s MLB. In 2005, Darvish made his debut at the age of 18 for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He pitched 94 1/3 innings over 14 starts as a rookie that year, following that with a 2.89 ERA in 149 2/3 innings in 2006. The Ham Fighters won the Japan Series last year, and Darvish made his first start in Game 1 and earned the win in the clinching Game 5.
From 2007-11, he was absolutely dominant, pitching 1,024 1/3 innings with a 1.72 ERA, 1,083 strikeouts, and a combined record of 76-28. Darvish was an NPB All-Star every season during that time, was named Pacific League MVP twice (2007 and 2009) and won the Sawamura Award (NPB’s equivalent of the Cy Young) in 2007. His last NPB season in 2011 was exciting. Darvish posted an 18-6 record in a career-high 232 innings with a microscopic 1.44 ERA, along with 276 strikeouts and five home runs allowed throughout the season.
After the season, the Ham Fighters made him available to MLB clubs through the draft. The Texas Rangers are fielding other suitors with a $51.7MM cap hit from the Ham Fighters (the cap hit has yet to be established). The team eventually signed Darvish to a six-year, $56MM guarantee.
In his first MLB season in 2012, Darvish pitched 191 1/3 innings over 29 starts with a 3.90 ERA, a 27.1% strikeout rate, and a stellar 46.2% groundball rate. He made his first playoff start in the AL Wild Card Game against the Orioles, pitching 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and no walks but took the loss. He was valued at 4.7 WAR that year according to FanGraphs, which stands as the highest mark of his career to date. He also earned his first of five All-Star honors in the majors and finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting.
His 2013 season was just as strong. Darvish lowered his ERA to 2.83 in 209 2/3 innings as the Rangers’ ace and raised his strikeout rate to 32.9%. He earned his second All-Star and finished as the runner-up Max Scherzer in AL Cy Young voting, while his 277 strikeouts that year were the best of his MLB career. He was an All-Star again in 2014, but was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation in mid-August and missed the rest of the season. He suffered more pain during Spring Training the following year and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery, missing the entire 2015 season.
Darvish returned in May 2016 and picked up where he left off. In 100 1/3 innings over 17 starts that year, he posted a 3.41 ERA with a 31.7% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate. He was less productive the following year, with a 4.01 ERA in 22 starts before being shipped to the Dodgers at the trade deadline in exchange for three leadoff prospects. Willie Calhoun. Darvish’s strikeout and walk numbers improved in nine regular season starts in Los Angeles, but he struggled in the World Series against the Astros with subpar starts in Games 3 and 7.
Photo courtesy of David Banks, Imagn Images
More to come.
