Yu Darvish is set to join the San Diego Padres in a major trade deal from the Chicago Cubs involving seven players in total, Major League Baseball's official website reported Monday.

The 34-year-old right-hander and his fellow catcher Victor Caratini will move to San Diego, while five players including pitcher Zach Davies will head in the opposite direction, the MLB.com report said citing an undisclosed source.

Composite photo shows Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs pitching during a game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago on Sept. 25, 2020. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Darvish had claimed on Monday "there's quite a high possibility" the deal will go through when he touched on the issue while speaking using his audio distribution application, also revealing that the Padres are not among the teams listed in his no-trade clause.

In his third year with the Cubs, Darvish went 8-3 and led the NL in wins with a 2.01 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 12 starts. He became the first Japanese pitcher in the majors to lead either league in wins as he also tied Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber for most wins in the majors.

In the 60-game regular season, truncated from the usual 162 games due to the coronavirus pandemic, Darvish finished second in the Cy Young voting for the NL. The honors are awarded annually to the most outstanding pitchers in each league.