Yu Darvish is hanging up his cleats — or is he?
The Japanese right-hander reportedly told the Padres that he was retiring after 13 big league seasons, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The news came as a bit of shock, considering that he would be leaving the game with three years and $43 million left on the six-year, $108 million extension he signed with San Diego in 2023.
The Union-Tribune’s report was quickly refuted by Darvish’s agent, Joel Wolfe, who told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that his client’s days in the majors might not actually be over.
“Yu has not made a final decision yet,” Wolfe said, per Feinsand. “This is a complicated matter we are still working through.”
Not long after, Darvish shot down the retirement talk himself, taking to X to set his story straight.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
Darvish appeared to tell the Union-Tribune that he was OK with walking away from the $43 million he’s still owed by the Padres.
“As far as leaving lots of money,” Darvish said, according to the outlet, “I look at it as that was never mine to begin with, especially considering the money I haven’t physically earned yet.”
In December, Darvish appeared uncertain if he would pitch again in the majors.
“I’m not necessarily thinking about really pitching, as I go through this rehab process right now,” Darvish said, per MLB.com. “I don’t have that in my mind. I’m just trying to just rehab my arm right now. If I get the urge to come back, if I feel that I can stand on the mound and come back, then I will go for that. But I’ll just leave it there for now.”
Retirement or not, baseball fans won’t be seeing Darvish in 2026 after the 39-year-old underwent UCL brace surgery on his throwing arm in November, sidelining him for the entire season.
If Darvish does retire — or at stop pitching in MLB at the very least — it would mark the end of one of the most iconic Japanese-born pitchers there’s ever been to pitch stateside.
Since debuting in 2012 with the Rangers, Darvish has made five All-Star teams and received Cy Young votes in four different seasons, finishing as high as second twice, including his second season in the majors when he led all of baseball with 277 strikeouts in 2013.
He’s registered 115 career wins in stints with the Rangers, Dodgers, Cubs and Padres, and has the most strikeouts by a Japanese-born pitcher in MLB history.
Darvish was limited by injuries in 2025 and didn’t debut until early July after dealing with elbow inflammation during the first half.
In 72 innings for San Diego, Darvish went 5-5 with a 5.38 ERA and 68 strikeouts across 15 starts.
In the series-deciding Game 3 of the wild-card round against the Cubs, Darvish started and tossed just one frame, giving up four hits and two runs during the 3-1 loss.
