Padres Pitcher Labeled As Having Worst Contract Entering 2026 Season

Over the last few years, the San Diego Padres have spent a lot of big money in free agency as they tried to keep up with the bigger market teams in baseball. Unfortunately, some of those moves have backfired on them.

Due to financial problems and a future potential sale, the team has been forced to trade away star outfielder Juan Soto, while also allowing aces Blake Snell and Dylan Cease to walk in free agency. But to make matters even worse, the Padres still have a lot of money on the books with the current players on the roster.

One of those players is veteran right-hander Yu Darvish, who will miss the entire 2026 season due to injury. There were rumors that Darvish would be retiring, but he clarified everything, saying that he was simply leaning toward voiding his contract with San Diego, not full-on retiring yet.

However, in the best-case scenario for Darvish, the earliest he would return to the team would be 2027. Darivsh had an internal brace procedure in November on his elbow, which is the second major procedure that he's had on his elbow in his career.

Darvish still has a few more years left on his current contract, and he is still owed $46 million through the 2028 season. Due to this, the right-hander has been named as the worst contract on the Padres entering the upcoming 2026 season by Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report.

"With two major elbow procedures on his resume and more than 1,700 career MLB innings, Darvish's body might just be telling him it's time, which would lead to the need for him and the Padres to work out some sort of contract settlement," Kelly wrote.

During his career, Darvish has been a lights-out pitcher, but he has dealt with some injuries as well. The veteran is a five-time All-Star, and he has been a key piece to the Padres' rotation since he joined the team back in 2021.

Losing Davish for the season hurts the Padres greatly, especially since the biggest questions on this team is within the starting rotation. San Diego has tried to bring in multiple arms to replicate the production of Darvish and Cease, but whether it works remains to be seen.

Luckily, the team was able to bring right-hander Michael King back in free agency, but the injury problems of Joe Musgrove continue to hurt this club. Musgrove may not be ready for the start of the season, further complicating matters for San Diego.

Darvish could end up retiring, or he could see how his body responds to the recovery process this time around. But either way, his contract is a real problem, and the Padres are now dealing with the reality of handing an older pitcher a large, guaranteed deal.

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