adminJapanese pitcher Darvish Yu (36), who plays with Kim Ha-seong (28) in the San Diego Padres of the American Professional Baseball Major League (MLB), has signed an exceptional contract that guarantees him until the age of 42.
Local media outlets such as the AP and ESPN all reported that Darvish signed a 6-year extension contract with San Diego on the 10th (Korean time) for 6 years, 108 million dollars (approximately 136.6 billion won).
Darvish, who is currently 36 years old, is guaranteed a career as a player until the 2028 season when he turns 42 with this extension.
Darvish, who made a name for himself as the best right-handed fastball pitcher upon his debut in Nippon Professional Baseball, signed with the Texas Rangers in 2012 and made his major league debut. After that, he was traded to San Diego in 2021 after going through the LA Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. 스포츠토토
After becoming a free agent (FA) in 2018, Darvish, who signed a six-year, $126 million (approximately 159.5 billion won) contract with the Cubs, was scheduled to become a free agent again at the end of this season. Although he is old, Darvish is still showing a healthy appearance. He made 242 starts over 11 major league years, going 95-75 with a 3.50 earned run average. In particular, last season, he played the role of San Diego’s first starter with 16 wins and 8 losses and an average ERA of 3.10. Darvish is expected to play an active part as the ace of the Japanese national team in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) to be held in March. Unlike other major leaguers who said they would join the national team right before the competition, he has expressed his intention to join the national team from the first day of training.
However, by agreeing to an extension of his contract early on, he laid the foundation for a stable career as a player. This six-year contract is slightly smaller than his first free agency contract. However, it is very unusual for a player in his late 30s to sign a six-year contract.