This might be the busiest stretch of news in San Diego since Ron Burgundy tried to fight a bear.
After acquiring Blake Snell from the Rays Sunday night, the San Diego Padres are now reportedly “deep in talks” to trade for Yu Darvish from the Chicago Cubs. Dennis Lin, the Padres beat reporter for The Athletic, reported the news Monday afternoon.
Lin said that “multiple players” would head back to Chicago. Jon Heyman said the deal could expand to include Willson Contreras or Victor Caratini, as the Padres are also looking for catching help.
This would continue an aggressive offseason for the Padres, as they are also seen as the frontrunners to land KBO star infielder Ha-seong Kim. This also goes to show what a deep farm system can do for you in the trade market–they still have players left to deal after trading for premium pitching in Snell and Mike Clevinger over the last four months.
Following an injury-riddled 2018 and a tale-of-two-halves 2019 (he was dominant after the All Star break), the 34-year-old righty had his best year in Chicago last season, posting a 2.23 FIP, 221 ERA+, 0.961 WHIP, and 2.7 bWAR. He finished second in Cy Young voting in 2020 behind top free agent Trevor Bauer.
Darvish has three years and $59 million left on a six-year deal he signed with the Cubs before the 2018 season.
If there is any belief the Mets are the ones to set the free agent market, the Padres are certainly taking the reigns of the trade market.
