Darvish, Heyward stay with Cubs, who also keep Quintana
CHICAGO (AP) — Starting pitcher Yu Darvish and outfielder Jason Heyward are staying with the Chicago Cubs, who exercised their $11.5 million option for 2020 on left-hander José Quintana on Saturday and declined their $6.5 million option on lefty Derek Holland, which triggered a $500,000 buyout.
Darvish and Heyward both had the right to opt out of their contracts and become free agents, but decided against it.
Darvish is owed $81 million over the final four seasons of a $126 million, six-year deal, and Heyward is due $86 million in the next four seasons of a $184 million, eight-year contract.
A 33-year-old right-hander, Darvish was 6-8 with a 3.98 ERA in 31 starts this year after his first season with the Cubs was limited by a stress reaction in his right elbow and a triceps strain. He was 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in 2018.
Darvish is 63-53 in seven major league seasons with Texas (2012-17), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2017) and the Cubs. His contract calls for $22 million in each of the next two seasons, $19 million in 2022 and $18 million in 2023.
Heyward, 30, hit .251 with 21 homers and 62 RBIs this year, the best of his four seasons with Chicago. He has hit .252 with 47 homers and 227 RBIs for the Cubs.
A 10-year veteran, he played for Atlanta from 2010-14 and St. Louis in 2015. His deal calls for $21 million in each of the next two seasons and $22 million in each of the final two years.
Quintana, a left-hander who turns 31 in January, was 13-9 with a 4.68 ERA in 32 appearances last season. Acquired from the White Sox in July 2017, Quintana is 33-23 with a 4.23 ERA in 78 appearances for the Cubs.
Quintana's contract, signed with the White Sox in March 2014, originally guaranteed $22 million and included two option years. It will wind up being worth $42 million over seven seasons.
If Chicago had declined the option, Quintana would have received a $1 million buyout.
The 33-year-old Holland was 0-1 with a 6.89 ERA in 20 games for Chicago last season after he was acquired from San Francisco on July 26, a deal that included cash and reduced Chicago's commitment to $425,000 of Holland's $6.5 million salary. As part of the trade, San Francisco agreed to pay Chicago $500,000 if the Cubs declined Holland's option.
