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The St. Louis River Walkers have made a major three-player deal with the Dayton Fighter Pilots, sending second baseman Jin-hwan Chung and utility infielder Eduardo Nunez to the Pilots in exchange for starting pitcher Yu Darvish.
Signed by St. Louis before the 2019 season, Chung has ranked among the league leaders in on-base percentage in his two seasons with the Walkers. He sat at .385 at the time of the trade this season.
But he has struggled to put the bat on the ball. He was batting .240 with 12 homers and 53 RBIs at the time of the trade.
Nunez was nothing more than a pinch-hitter, fill-in infielder in his only season in St. Louis, and he had struggled hitting just .215 with two homers and five RBIs.
The Walkers also were glad to shed his $2.2 million salary.
In Darvish, St. Louis acquires a top-three starting pitcher with one more year of control, albeit at $21 million.
But Trevor Bauer, who is demanding a 10-year deal north of $25 million per and would be impossible to re-sign, should make one season of Darvish worth it.
It doesn't hurt that Chung was pulling down $16M per season.

This season, with a struggling Dayton team, Darvish has gone 2-7 in 20 starts with a 3.57 ERA.
The trade of Chung, also opens the door for the Walkers' top prospect second baseman Bo Bichette, to get a long look in the majors.
For AAA Memphis, Bichette has hit .319 with 16 homers and 72 RBIs in 88 games.