He's posted an ERA+ above 100 in seven of his eight big-league seasons, and he's topped 120 in five of those campaigns. Still, Darvish has a dizzying amount of stuff and intelligence, and it's hard to argue with his track record.

At some point, decay comes for everyone - yes, even you, and Yu. Is there risk here? Certainly he's getting deeper into his mid-30s, and he's had some injury woes in the past. Will Darvish continue to perform at this level? Probably not. Those gains seem attributable to an altered pitch mix that saw him chuck more cutters, sliders, and curves and fewer four-seam fastballs. In 2020 alone, Darvish threw a higher rate of strikes and missed a greater rate of bats than he ever had previously. Slicing and dicing years is never advisable when it comes to respectable analysis, but to illustrate the point: he's held the opposition to two runs or fewer in 17 of his last 26 starts. Though Darvish scuffled in his first season and a half in Chicago, he's reverted to good form since July 2019. It may not be enough to chase down the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, but they have a better chance of it than they did a week or, heck, three days ago. (Preller also reportedly inked Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim, who profiles as a league-average starter and who should see significant action at second base.) The Padres, already a dangerous team, look more capable now. It seems too cute to write that the Padres have hacked this era of baseball by deciding they want to win now, and that they're willing to pay players in order to do it - but is it false? In the span of 24 hours, the Padres added two above-average starting pitchers without sacrificing the top of their farm system indeed, one scout estimated San Diego had traded two players from its top 10.

Cubs receive: RHP Zach Davies, OF Owen Caissie and Ismael Mena, SS Reginald Preciado and Yeison Santana.

Padres receive: RHP Yu Darvish, C Victor Caratini, cash.Let's proceed to that part of the endeavor now, beginning with a recap of the moving pieces: As such, we've decided to break down the trade while providing grades for each team. We here at CBS Sports are nothing if not judgmental.

Yu darvish trade dodgers