Yu Darvish was a massive disappointment for the Los Angeles Dodgers down the stretch in 2017, and he didn’t win many fans thanks to his World Series performance. That factor had a lot to do with why he opted to leave town after he became a free agent.
Darvish admitted in a new interview that he wanted to remain with the Dodgers, but he felt he and his family wouldn’t be able to overcome the antipathy that fans felt toward him.
“More than what was actually written, what bothered me was the idea that Dodgers fans were disappointed,” Darvish said, via Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
Darvish admitted that part of the reason he didn’t come back to the team was his fear that his family would be negatively impacted by his performance. He specifically mentioned the worries he had about sending his kids to area schools.
“Their last name is Darvish,” he said.
Reports at the time of Darvish’s signing with the Chicago Cubs indicated that the Dodgers were offering similar terms, but were turned down. Now we have an indication as to why.
