Ace Yu Darvish has a 42-year contract with the Padres.

After Yu Darvish finished answering a question about his new six-year, $108 million contract, the 36-year-old San Diego Padres ace turned to his translator Shingo Hori and added a thought.

“He still does not believe whether this is true or not; if it’s a prank,” Hori said.

It’s true, good. Neither Darvish nor the Padres think the tall right-hander is near completion. He ends one of his best seasons when he helped the Padres in an exciting run in the NL Championship Series and said he will do his best to still serve at a high level when he turns 42 at the end of 2028. season, the last year of his contract.

“I just want to go as far as I can and just push myself as hard as I can,” Darvish said at a press conference on Friday. “One thing I can say is that there will always be preparation; the hard work will always be there. Let’s see how far we can go.”

Darvish, who has a confusing array of offers, is set to make $108 million over six years, including the $18 million he was already due in 2023 before he was due to become a free agent.

Before the 2020 season, the Cubs traded Darvish to the Padres. He’s coming off one of the best years of his 11-year major league career when he was 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA and 197 strikeouts. He was 2-1 in the postseason.

“I never thought I would get six years. You’re not really 100% sure how far you can go just because it’s something in the future,” Darvish said.

The pitcher mentioned talking to club owner Peter Seidler, who showed he wasn’t afraid to spend big, and Preller.

“You really feel their appreciation and trust in me,” Darvish said. “This is a big deal for me. It means a lot to me. This is probably the main reason why I decided to stay here.”

The extension comes as the Padres head into what is arguably the most anticipated season in the history of the franchise, which has not competed in the World Series since 1998 and has never won one. In December, the Padres signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract and will add Fernando Tatis Jr. to the active roster on April 20 after he is suspended from 80 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. .

“I’m honored to be in their plan,” Darvish said. “Obviously this organization is on the right track as it wins games and just being part of that part is very comforting.”

According to Preller, the Padres made the deal “with great faith in him.” “He is a unique pitcher. He has a unique style; he has many different ways to get you out. It depends not only on speed and power. He has all the different weapon components and pitching. I think from our point of view, we feel that with this contract, he will perform like a better guy.”

Preller added that Darwish “has different versions of himself. We have seven, eight, nine different fields and I think his ability to keep inventing and doing different things on the hill that we feel will really stand him in good stead at any stage over the next six years.”

Preller said the Padres are “great comfort” that two of their top pitchers, Darvish and Joe Musgrove, are locked up for the long haul. Musgrove, who grew up a Padres fan in the El Cajon suburb and made his first All-Star in 2022, signed a five-year, $100 million contract in July.

“They exemplify what we want to be in terms of work ethic and are always striving to be better,” Preller said. “These are guys who usually go through the aging curve and will perform for years to come. We have a lot of talented guys and we feel like Darvish is on par with everyone on our list.”

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