Yu Darvish Could Be A San Diego Padre Very Soon

The San Diego Padres are going for it all in 2021, and Chicago Cubs ace Yu Darvish could be next on their offseason wishlist.

According to multiple reports, the Padres are close to landing Darvish via trade with the Chicago Cubs, who are trying to shed salary.

Even after landing Blake Snell, the Padres are deep into talks to acquire Yu Darvish from the Cubs, sources tell @PJ_Mooney, @sahadevsharma and me. If the deal is completed, multiple players would head to Chicago.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) December 28, 2020

There is growing optimism the #Padres will be able to complete their deal for Yu Darvish as soon as today. The Padres aren’t messing around

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 28, 2020

The Padres aren’t messing around is right. The young up-and-coming team is coming off a trip to the postseason last year, where they lost to the Dodgers in the NLDS.

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2020 served as a coming out party of sorts for the Padres. They’re young, fun, energetic, and they’re poised to be a contending team in the MLB for many years to come. One thing that will get the Padres over the hump in 2021 is starting pitching, and the Padres offseason plans continue to be centered around picking up high-quality arms.

The Padres recently traded for Rays left-hander Blake Snell, but they’re far from satisfied. A deal for Darvish would turn the Padres achilles heel into a real strength for next season.

One thing that could be holding up the deal is that San Diego also might be trying to pry one of the Cubs catchers away, too.

The Cubs championship window appears to be closed, which means anybody on their roster is subject to being traded. The Padres could use a catcher, so why not try to land Willson Contreras or Victor Caratini in a deal for Darvish?

Caratini has been Darvish’s personal catcher for the last two seasons, and the tandem have been dominant. Caratini has also shown some pop in his bat, and certainly wouldn’t hold back a potent Padres lineup. If San Diego is able to come away with a catcher in their Darvish deal, I’d expect it to be Caratini.

From the looks of it, a blockbuster deal involving Yu Darvish and the Padres could be announced any time now.

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