"I respect Yu Darvish for having forgiveness" – Padres manager breaks silence on Yuli Gurriel signing amid past racist incident with Japanese star

The San Diego Padres made a head-turning move on Tuesday when they agreed with veteran Yuli Gurriel on a minor league deal. The deal will see the first baseman earn $1.25 million if he performs well to get to the majors along with $1 million in incentives, according to Manny Randhawa on MLB.com.

The move was a surprise as Padres ace Yu Darvish and Yuli Gurriel share a bad history. In 2017, Gurriel, who was a member of the Houston Astros, made a racist gesture directed at Darvish, then of the LA Dodgers, during the World Series. The act led to widespread backlash and a five-game suspension.

With Gurriel now joining the Padres, questions naturally arose regarding Darvish’s stance on the matter. Manager Mike Shildt confirmed that Padres general manager A.J. Preller had spoken to Darvish about the situation before the signing.

"Yeah, I know. I know AJ spoke to Darvish about it," Shildt told reporters. "And as you would expect from Yu, and quite honestly, our entire organization, we’re mindful and want to make sure that people are being respected. We also know—and I won’t speak for Darvish—but he was communicated with. He can answer that question if you feel it’s important."

Shildt went on to emphasize the importance of grace and forgiveness.

"But the fact of the matter is, that grace is important. I don’t know that we give enough of it," the manager added. "It happened a long time ago. It was in competition, a one-off, and at least we’re not going to hold Gurriel’s feet to the fire. And I respect Yu for having that grace and forgiveness in his heart, knowing that there’s only one of us who, in my world, is perfect, and none of us standing here can claim that."

Yuli Gurriel, 40, spent last season with the Kansas City Royals. He hit .241 with no home runs and six RBIs in 18 games.

What exactly happened between Yu Darvish and Yuli Gurriel in 2017 World Series?

During Game 3 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yuli Gurriel made the 'slant-eyes' gesture after hitting a home run off Yu Darvish, who is Japanese. The 'slant eyes' is often used to mimic Asian eyes.

Gurriel's gesture didn't sit well with Darvish, who said he was "disappointed" upon seeing the replay after the game.

"Acting like that…is disrespectful to people around the world," Darvish said through his interpreter after Game 3. "I try not to care much about it, but he played in Japan and I have a lot of respect for him, so I try not to think about it too much against him."

It didn't long for Yuli Gurriel to understand his unwarranted gesture as he apologized to Darvish.

“Yesterday I was commenting that I’d never had any success against Darvish, and the gesture was saying that I wish he would look at me like one of them and maybe he’d throw me an easy pitch so I can do something,’’ Gurriel said. “At no point did I mean that in an offensive way. On the contrary, I’ve always had a lot of respect for them.’’

The incident happened over eight years ago and it seems both have mended their relationship over the years.