After acquiring Blake Snell from Tampa Bay Rays, The San Diego Padres have acquired right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish, catcher Victor Caratini and cash considerations from the Chicago Cubs in a block buster trade.
In exchange, San Diego Padres are sending right-hander Zach Davies and four young prospects: outfielders Owen Caissie (18) and Ismael Mena (18), and shortstops Reggie Preciado (17) and Yeison Santana (20), Executive Vice President/General Manager A.J. Preller announced today.
Darvish, 34, made 12 starts for the Cubs in 2020, going 8–3 with a 2.01 ERA (17 ER, 76.0 IP), 93 strikeouts against 14 walks, and just five home runs allowed. The veteran starter finished behind Trevor Bauer for second place in the National League Cy Young race, marking the third time in his career in which he’s received votes for the accolade (also finished in second place in 2013 and ninth in 2012).
Among NL pitchers this past season, the 6-foot-5, 216-pound right-hander ranked first in wins, second in ERA and strikeouts per walk ratio (6.64), third in innings pitched, tied for fourth in strikeouts, and fourth in WHIP (0.96).
Darvish earned his first-career Pitcher of the Month award for his July-August performance, posting a 6–1 record with 52 strikeouts and a 1.47 ERA (7 ER, 43.0 IP) across seven starts. On July 25 vs. MIL, he notched his 1,300th-career strikeout, becoming the fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach the mark, both by batters faced (4,360) and innings pitched (1,052.0).
Prior to being signed by the Rangers as an international free agent in 2012, the Osaka, Japan native had a seven-year career with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and he will become the fifth Japanese-born player in Padres history, joining Akinori Otsuka, Dave Roberts, Tadahito Iguchi, and Kazuhisa Makita.
A gold medal winner with Japan teams in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship, he also pitched for the fourth-place Japan in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
A four-time All-Star (2012, ’13, ’14, and ’17 all with the Texas Rangers), Darvish has gone 12–7 since the 2019 All-Star Break, owning a 2.40 ERA (42 ER, 157.2 IP) in 25 starts with a Major League-best 10.05 strikeout/walk ratio (211 SO/21 BB).
Between the Rangers (2012–17), Los Angeles Dodgers (2017) and Cubs (2018–20), Darvish has a 71–56 career record in 82 appearances (all starts) with a 3.47 ERA (434 ER, 1,127.0 IP) and 1,392 strikeouts.
Caratini, 27, hit .241 (28-for-116) with a .333 OBP in 44 games with the Cubs in 2020, making 22 appearances behind the plate (21 starts), 18 as the designated hitter and three at first base. The switch-hitting catcher hit .292 (7-for-24) vs. left-handed pitchers and .228 (21-for-92) vs. righties this past season, and he did not allow a passed ball in 180.0 innings behind the plate.
A native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Caratini has appeared in 246 games over parts of four Major League seasons with the Cubs (2017–20), batting .250 (150-for-600) with 28 doubles, 15 home runs, 73 RBI, 68 runs scored and 57 walks.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound catcher was originally signed by the Atlanta Braves as a second-round selection in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Miami-Dade College (FL) before being acquired by the Cubs in 2014 in exchange for INF Emilio Bonifacio and LHP James Russell.
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