Report: Cubs agree to 6-year, $126M deal with Darvish
Yu Darvish waited and waited - and it appears to have paid off big time.
The Chicago Cubs have agreed to a six-year, $126-million contract with the free-agent All-Star, sources told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Completion of the deal - by far the largest free-agent contract of this offseason - is pending a physical.
The contract reportedly contains incentives that could push its total value into the $150-million range. Those incentives apparently center around Darvish winning multiple Cy Young Awards over the span of the deal. He can also opt out after the second year of his deal.
Darvish's contract will also apparently include a no-trade clause similar to Jason Heyward's, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, who reports there is a full no-trade for part of the deal, which then switches to a 12-team list.
Yu Darvish’s average annual value of $21 million makes this the 19th largest starting pitching contract in @MLB history, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) February 10, 2018
Adding Darvish to their rotation likely spells the end of Jake Arrieta's time with the Cubs. Arrieta, who turned into a Cy Young-caliber pitcher on the North Side after joining the Cubs in 2013, remains a free agent.
Cubs' projected 2018 rotation
| Pitcher | ERA | WHIP | K/BB | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yu Darvish | 3.86 | 1.16 | 209/58 | 3.5 |
| Jon Lester (L) | 4.33 | 1.32 | 180/60 | 2.7 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 3.03 | 1.19 | 123/40 | 2.5 |
| Jose Quintana (L) | 4.15 | 1.22 | 207/61 | 3.9 |
| Tyler Chatwood | 4.69 | 1.44 | 120/77 | 1.1 |
(WAR courtesy: Fangraphs)
The 31-year-old Darvish crafted a 3.86 ERA while striking out 209 (10.1 K/9) in 31 starts split between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers last season. He helped the Dodgers reach the World Series with a brilliant start against the Cubs during the NLCS, but put up a 21.60 ERA in his two World Series starts.
Los Angeles was in the mix to sign Darvish "until the end," sources told Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. But the Dodgers' offers were apparently contingent on the club's ability to move other salary, Heyman reports, and though L.A. was also willing to give Darvish a six-year deal, the offers weren't financially close to what the Cubs presented.
He had also been linked to the Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, and New York Yankees over the course of the winter. According to Heyman, both Milwaukee and Minnesota reportedly made Darvish five-year offers that exceeded $100 million.