The recent signing of Yuli Gurriel to a minor league deal by the Padres raised some eyebrows — and not just because the club was adding another potential offensive weapon.

His signing came with the endorsement of Yu Darvish. The first of at least three times A.J. Preller checked in with Darvish regarding Gurriel was in December. The Padres president of baseball operations wanted to make sure Darvish, arguably the player he respects the most in his career, did not have a problem with adding Gurriel.