Update: Cubs sign Darvish to 6 year, $126m deal
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Cubs signed Yu Darvish to a six year, $126m free agent contract. The year-by-year breakdown is not yet know, but the $21m AAV means the Cubs remain $11m under the 2018 Luxury tax cap, with only the back-up catcher spot remaining to be accounted for.
Earlier this offseason, the Cubs signed Chris Gimenez, Darvish’s old personal catcher with the Rangers, to a minor league deal. The Darvish signing means Gimenez will likely be the Cubs opening day back-up catcher. The terms of Gimenez’s deal are unknown. It is possible the deal included bonuses for making the club that would increase his contract above league minimum salary. The payroll tracker will be updated with Darvish’s year-by-year breakdown and Gimenez’s salary once known.
Update (2/11/18)
Darvish's deal apparently includes an opt-out clause after two years. The payroll tracker will be updated when terms are confirmed. Also, Chris Gimenez's salary is now being reported to be $1.275m should he make the team out of spring training. This takes the Cubs to $9.77m under the luxury tax cap. The Cubs have still not set salaries for players under team control (Contreras, Baez, Montgomery, Schwarber, Edwards, Happ, & Almora). I expect raises due to these players will eat up another $500,000-750,000. The Cubs should therefore enter 2018 with about $9m in cap space.
Update (2/13/18)
Bob Nightengale is now reporting year-by-year numbers on the Darvish contract (below). The deal also includes full no-trade rights during the first two years, followed by partial no-trade rights thereafter.
- 2018 - $25m
- 2019 - $20m
- 2020 - $22m
- 2021 - $22m
- 2022 - $19m
- 2023 - $18m
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