San Diego Padres veteran right-hander Yu Darvish was reportedly set to retire but posted on social media saying he that he isn't yet.
As if the San Diego Padres’ offseason wasn’t unusual enough, it has gotten more unusual regarding one of San Diego’s starting pitchers.
The Padres' veteran right-hander Yu Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing ulnar collateral ligament surgery in late October. Though not a traditional reconstructive Tommy John surgery, the procedure involved internal bracing which will still require him to miss the full season.
That isn’t what’s unusual. What is unusual is that San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee reported that Darvish informed the team that he would be retiring, voiding the remainder of his contract that is worth $43 million over the next three years.
Joel Wolfe, Darvish’s agent, responded that Darvish hasn’t made his final decision yet and that the situation was complicated. Darvish then posted on social media himself to debunk the initial report that he was retiring.
“You may have seen an article, and although I am leaning towards voiding the contract, there’s still a lot that has to be talked over with the Padres, so the finer details are yet to be decided,” Darvish wrote Saturday.
“Also, I will not be announcing my retirement yet. Right now, I am fully focused on my rehab for my elbow, and if I get to a point where I can throw again, I will start from scratch again to compete. If once I get to that point I feel I can’t do that, I will announce my retirement.”
In another post, Darvish explains that he and the organization have been discussing the termination of his contract since last year, but he hasn’t decided to retire. He mentioned that ongoing discussions haven’t been finalized and that he plans to be at Petco Park to rehab.
The Athletic’s senior writer Ken Rosenthal did a segment on his Fair Territory show in which he touched on the fiasco. Rosenthal agreed with Darvish’s agent that it’s complicated, and that Darvish himself is a complicated guy, referencing his brief hiatus from the team for personal reasons a few years ago.
“He has three years left on this deal. Three years left on this deal and he’s currently injured, so from the standpoint of the Major League Baseball Players Association and his agent Joel Wolfe, their stance I would imagine is ‘not so fast, let’s see if we can negotiate something here,’” Rosenthal said Monday.
He clarified that he doesn’t know if that’s what is happening, but that he imagines the injury is a factor. Rosenthal believes Darvish could forfeit some of his salary, but leaving all of the guaranteed money on the table is rare.