Yu Darvish agrees to 6-year, $126 million deal with Chicago Cubs

Japanese ace pitcher Yu Darvish finally got the right pitch.

It may have taken the entire off-season, but the 31-year-old Darvish agreed to a six-year, $126 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. The Japanese pitcher’s mega-deal “which includes an opt-out clause and no-trade protection, contains escalators that could push the value as high as $150 million over the life of the contract,” a source told ESPN.

Darvish, who sports a 3.42 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and 56-42 record in six seasons with the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, had been the biggest of the marquee free agents that had remained unsigned a week before the start of spring training.

Despite an ugly performance in the World Series for the Dodgers, Darvish instantly upgrades a Cubs rotation which is sure to lose previous ace Jake Arrieta, himself still stuck in free agent limbo. Darvish has averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings — which is the best ratio in Major League History for pitchers who have made at least 100 starts.