I’m not sure what’s gotten into the San Diego Padres, but I like the swag.
The San Diego Padres have signed their starting pitcher Yu Darvish to a six-year, $108 million contract extension, according to a Feb. 9 report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Including a full no-trade provision, the deal starts in the 2023 campaign and goes all the way through to 2028. At that point, the now 36-year-old Darvish will be 42.
The average annual salary of Darvish’s contract will be $18 million, $3 million lower than the amount he earned annually prior to this contract. Having the third-highest payroll in Major League Baseball, the contract structure helps San Diego against luxury tax rules.
Right-hander Yu Darvish and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a six-year, $108 million contract extension, sources tell ESPN. The deal starts this season and runs through 2028, when Darvish will be 42.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 9, 2023
The Yu Darvish deal is the San Diego Padres’ latest, but that’s not the most interesting thing going on with the organization at the moment. It’s the fact they’ve now spent over half a billion dollars at this point in the offseason — $512,230,000, to be exact. That tally is the third-highest in MLB.
I don’t know what’s gotten into this team, but I’m diggin’ it. (RELATED: ‘I’m Going To Do It My Way’: New York Mets Owner Steve Cohen Doesn’t Care What Anybody Thinks Of His Madman Spending)
They’ve got the beaches, the palm trees, the nice weather, the skyline, and San Diego has always had drip as a city, so their baseball team has had that leverage with their market … and now, they can say the “Padres” brand is sexy.
Shoutout to San Diego, man!