Padres’ Yu Darvish Decides to Forfeit $16 Million Salary for 2026 Season

Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season.

Yu Darvish will spend the 2026 season on the restricted list, freeing the San Diego Padres up from having to pay his salary. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Yu Darvish won’t play for the Padres this season, and he’s not expecting to be paid to sit out.

The 39-year-old righty will miss the entire 2026 season as he recovers from elbow surgery. On Wednesday, reports surfaced that San Diego will place Darvish on the restricted list this season, which will free up a big chunk of salary space.

The restricted list covers players who are under contract but can’t play for various reasons. It opens a 40-man roster spot while allowing the team to hold the player’s rights if or when he returns. The team does not have to pay the player while he is on the restricted list.

Essentially, Darvish is giving up his salary for the season to help the Padres. He was set to make $16 million for the 2026 campaign, and San Diego can now redirect that money to fill other holes. The team was projected to have a payroll that came in around $225 million, which ranked eighth in baseball. With Darvish’s money off the table, it frees general manager A.J. Preller to make a move.

The Padres have a thin starting rotation and have been linked to free-agent starter Lucas Giolito, widely considered the best arm available. In 26 starts for the Red Sox last season, Giolito went 10–4 with a 3.41 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP and 121 strikeouts in 145 innings. He previously missed the 2024 season after undergoing internal brace surgery on his elbow.

There is no indication yet that Darvish intends to retire. He made 15 starts in 2024 as he dealt with elbow inflammation to open the season. In November, he announced he would undergo internal brace surgery that would put him out for all of 2026.

Yu Darvish career stats

Darvish is a five-time All-Star who made his MLB debut for the Rangers in 2012 after a successful career in Nippon Professional Baseball. In Japan, he was a five-time All-Star and won the Pacific League ERA title twice. He has also helped Japan win the World Baseball Classic twice.

During his 13-year career, Darvish has played for the Rangers, Dodgers, Cubs and Padres. In that time, he is 115–93 with a 3.65 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP and 2,075 strikeouts in 1,778 innings. His career strikeout rate of 28.4% is stellar.

In 2024, Darvish also dealt with injuries, but in 16 starts, he went 7–3 with a 3.31 ERA. He struggled in 2025 after dealing with elbow issues early in the campaign. He finished the season 5–5, with a 5.38 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.

If Darvish never returns to a major league mound, he’ll be considered firmly in the Hall of Very Good. He was a frontline starter for virtually all of his career, and lived up to that billing for most of it.

The fact that Darvish is giving up $16 million to help the Padres is pretty amazing. It’s the honorable thing to do for a guy who has made more than $200 million during his career. If he does return, he’ll still have $30 million left on the final two years of his contract.

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