The Chicago Cubs are going to officially announce the signing of Yu Darvish and have a press conference introducing him down in Mesa, as spring training has arrived. Darvish inked a six-year contract worth a guaranteed $126 million and now we know the breakdown of the deal.
We already new a few details on Saturday, when the signing was reported. First, Darvish has an opt-out option after his second year. The contract also includes escalators for Cy Young Awards and finishing 2-5 in Cy Young Award voting.
The other big detail is that Darvish has a full no-trade clause in the first four years of the deal. Here's the year-by-year breakdown of his contract. The Cubs put some extra money on the first year, but after that the salary pretty much stays the same.
So, for everyone freaking out about how much he'd be making at the end of his deal, it's only a few million more than what John Lackey was making the past two years with the Cubs. Obviously the Cubs bumped up the first year of the deal because they have the room under the luxury tax this year. Darvish's salary goes down to $20 million next year, when the Cubs are going to go after Bryce Harper. Ahh, it feels great having baseball back and real things to talk about again.
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