Quote from fenn68 on October 8, 2026, 2:08 am

King … Morejon … France are the three keys. Pivetta should have his option picked up and likely Matsui and Peralta will not opt out.

King can do a lot better than 2 years $58MM. Maybe the same AAV but likely 4 years guarantee.

Morejon is likely in the 4 year $80MM range.

France ???? Age, history, and being a 1B might limit him.

A lot of payroll increase when considering some big arbitration incentives (Miller) and contract increases (Machado) … not even considering any FA signing. Hope the new owners are up to it!

Quote from BoosterSD on October 8, 2026, 11:51 am

Depending on how much cash J & F have to spend, its going to be difficult to get all these things done.

Plus, what is Darvish going to do. Can they rework a couple of deals to both extend a player and still get some CBT relief?

And of course, what is the CBA going to look like? This will probably determine a lot for the new owners of our Padres.

Quote from MrPadre19 on October 8, 2026, 1:35 pm

My guess is that Yu is done and will stay on with the Org in some capacity.

Or,and it wouldn't surprise me too much,they sign him to a 1 year deal if he really wants to pitch again.

 

Quote from BoosterSD on October 8, 2026, 2:25 pm

Quote from MrPadre19 on October 8, 2026, 1:35 pm

My guess is that Yu is done and will stay on with the Org in some capacity.

Or,and it wouldn't surprise me too much,they sign him to a 1 year deal if he really wants to pitch again.

 

Darvish is still under contract through 2028. So, if he wants to pitch again he is already under contract.

Quote from MrPadre19 on October 9, 2026, 4:05 am

Wasn't sure exactly what they did with his 2026 pay or how it affected 2027

 

Quote from fenn68 on October 9, 2026, 6:23 am

Quote from MrPadre19 on October 9, 2026, 4:05 am

Want sure exactly what they did with his 2026 pay or how it affected 2027

 

Darvish was put on the restricted list. I believe that means they didn’t have to pay him and he was not listed on the 40 man roster. Also, his pay was not counted against the luxury tax.

However, they can take them off the restricted list at any time and his contract becomes valid again 2027 at $15 million.

So if he wants to play, he will be playing for $15 million in 2027. If he doesn’t wanna play, I guess he stays on the restricted list and does not get paid as was in 2026.

Given the Padres pitching situation Padres might actually want him to try to come back in spring training to fill the gap for that fifth starter. I guess he can go on the restricted list at any point if that doesn’t work out.

Quote from ultratvfan on October 9, 2026, 10:15 am

Darvish is 40 years old. We all know for this will be his last contract as he will be 42 when it expires in 2028.

Quote from fenn68 on October 9, 2026, 10:43 am

Should note that Darvish apparently wants to remain in San Diego as a home maybe as a player, but maybe in the front office. I guess this may give both Darvish and the Padres some flexibility on how to handle him and his future contract.

Quote from Randy Manese on October 10, 2026, 7:17 am

Baseball Reference states that Yu has made 242 million dollars in his MLB career after being the highest paid Japanese baseball player before he left Japan at age 24 after their 2011 season.  I'm guessing here but I think he has done well handling his money and the amount of money he would earn trying comeback and play is not at the forefront of his thoughts.

Darvish already is a legend and highly respected and embraced by the San Diego fans and community.  I believe he wants to be a part of the organization that helps them with community service projects and possibly be a Padres ambassador to help other Asian players the Padres have interest in or sign to come to the team.  I know he wasn't very successful at this in the past, but that role and his effectiveness in that role could be different if he is not also a player.

So, after the lockout/strike ends, I see Yu Darvish retiring and becoming part of the Padres front office like several other prominent players have done in the past.  Wish him the best - he really showed the kind of quality person he is in these last two years by giving up part or all of his salary to enable the Padres to add players to remain competitive for the playoffs.