The Rangers have a 4pm central time deadline to sign Yu Darvish today. If they fail to reach an agreement with agents Don Nomura and Arn Tellem, the $51,703,411 posting fee will not be paid to the Nippon Ham Fighters and Darvish will return to Japan for the 2012 season. The latest:
- The sides are closing in on a five-year deal with a player option for a sixth year, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
- Darvish's agreement with the Rangers is expected to be for six years, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
- The Rangers are close to a deal with Darvish, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. He elaborates that the Rangers and Darvish "are still working on details, but they are making good progress" with four hours remaining until the deadline. The deal will get done, according to Jon Heyman's sources.
- The Rangers are "cautiously optimistic that Darvish will be signed," reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
I wish we had a team with a similar concept name like the Nippon Ham Fighters. Perhaps the “Chef Boyardee Fried Chicken Killers.”
Nippon Ham is the Company, Fighters is the nickname. Teams in Japan are named after companies, not cities.
You can guess what Nippon Ham produces…
Then I would like to officially change my team name from the “Chef Boyardee Fried Chicken Killers” to the “ConAgra Fried Chicken Killers” to stay in accordance with Japanese team naming convention. However, Chef Boyardee sounds more gritty and hardnose than ConAgra.
That’s why the Yakult Swallows is such a perfect and funny name….Yakult is a beverage producer…
Oh…I figured Yakult was an adult film star. How disappointing.
Actually the team name is officially the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Leaving off Hokkaido is equivalent to leaving off “of Anaheim” from the Los Angeles Angels.
Beckett and Lackey would love to play for your team 😉
I say the Rangers don’t sign Darvish.
Instead, they will sign Fielder, Oswalt and E Jack.
PS I never understood the Darvish phenomena. It will leave as quickly as it came.
By opening day Ranger fans and the like will be saying Yu Who?
Lefty – I agree with you. But Fielder only on very short deal. Brutal in the field. No EJax. Oswalt yes 1yr 8M
Fielder isn’t actually as brutal in the field as you would think.
We currently have 6 starters on the 25 man roster. Darvish will make 7. So why would we add those two instead and have 8 starters? That’s ridiculous.
Starters get hurt throughout the season you know.You can almost never have enough pitching depth
That’s not a reason to sign Oswalt and Edwin Jackson for roughly $20 mil combined.
darvish is now a texas ranger
Can someone clarify – is he an unrestricted free agent (or some equivalent of that) next off-season if he plays 2012 in Japan? If he can get a similar $100M deal next off-season and not have $51.7M go to Nippon, I’d think he’s in a pretty strong negotiation position and pretty incentivized to play/risk an injury in Japan in 2012.
He’d have to go back to Japan for two years. Then he’d be an unrestricted free agent.
He still has 2 more years until he would be a free agent. 2013 he would be unretricted.
He can re-post next year (which will get him nowhere, really. He would likely get the same type contract as this one), but after 2013 he will be a free agent and could come to the US.
The irony of course is that the Rangers have plenty of starting pitchers for the rotation BEFORE they sign Darvish. (Lewis, Holland, Harrison, Feliz, Ogando, Feldman, Ramirez, Perez, … I probably left a couple out).
That said, they would be crazy to go this far and NOT sign Darvish. Not doing 5 years just doesnt make sense. He is too good and will go to the Yankees if this falls through.
ok as a yankee fan, and even if i wasnt have you not been paying attention the yankees at all this off season? they are not taking on big contracts. hence the reason they didnt sign buehrle or cj wilson and the reason their not going after fielder. because when all said an done im sure they could sign fielder for 1 year as a full time DH and offer him an ammount of money he wouldnt turn down if they really wanted to. but their trying to get under the luxury tax line. not to mention the obvious reason being their past with japanese pitchers their not going to give a guy from japan that big of a contract. especially since when he can become a FA here in the US he will be 27,28 years old. by that time they could end up having matt cain or cole hamels in their rotation who have already proven to be good here in the majors.
5 (or 6) + 25 does not equal 27 or 28.
as i said if he dont sign and when hes able to become a FA here in the US with out reposting against which is in 2 years pending on when he will turn 26 he will be 27 or 28 when he is allowed to try to sing with a MLB Team.
Your use of the English language just gave me a headache.
He’s a Yankee fan. What did you expect?
Go to the next page and try to make sense of that guy. Wow is all I can say.
It’s Yank Me’s!
You know what. You make a logical argument. I wouldn’t want my team to try to get Darvish to sing with the team either. Though I would be all for signing him to pitch.
I think he can SING with any MLB team he wants, but would anyone be able to understand him? Does he know “God Bless America” or our national anthem?
You realize the Yankees want to get under the tax line by 2014, right? Not next year. They could offer everyone 1 year deals and it would have no impact on their luxury tax plans.
I think it will get done. But if it doesn’t fielder and Garza will be Rangers before the weekend.
wishful thinking. Fielder will be in DC come spring training.
To get an award from Pres. ?????????????
If Cecil, Jr (Prince) was smart he’d tell Boras to find him a one year contract so he could go back on the market next year when he has more suitors …
I hope Garza goes to the Rangers. I want Perez, Olt, and Scheppers.
If the Rangers gave up more than one of those for Garza they are getting screwed.
why are ranger fans so worried about signing fielder? you dont need the offense. offense has never been the issue for the rangers. they were 3rd in runs scored last year. you guys rather put a 220 million dollar contract in your line up over fixing your biggest need? and thats RP. yeah maybe signing or trading for a SP will fix the bullpen cause it could put feliz back in the pen, but signing fielder is not your answer. any of you that think it is, must be 1) star hungry or 2) or the texas heat has fried your brains and you dont think 6 or 7 runs a game is good enough. sorry to say pitching wins championships. not fielder!
Man…just stop while you’re behind…
The bullpen is arguably the best in baseball. I know you’re a yankee fan, but at least take a look at the team before saying crazy things like that.
I already commented about Prince, but I’ll post it again: The Rangers have a huge need for offense post 2012,
when Hamilton leaves via Free Agency. The following year, Nelly Cruz is
a free agent. Signing Prince would absorb the offensive decline.
No one is offering Prince $220M. If he asked for $220, the Rangers would laugh and walk away. I’ve seen $160M, but that’s probably the upper limit. When only two teams are bidding on you, the teams have the upper hand.
Feliz is not going back in the pen. He’s a starter, and Joe Nathan is now the closer. ???
The fact is they lost their ace and may not have a number one or two starter this is a fact.
CJ was a number 2 max last year and we went to the WS. (insert “but you lost” here) Aces win games in the post season and CJ flat stunk under the big pressure. Holland has #2 potential that we did see last year, it is just a matter of if he can do it throughout the year. Harrison has #2 potential but again is young. You then have Colby who is a #4 during the season but a solid, solid pitcher in the post season. Ogando is an all star starter who will probably be in the pen and then you have Feliz who will be an ace if pedro can help him with the change and he gets those secondary pitches down. Plenty of question marks, yes, but the talent is there and it is a whole lot cheaper to use homegrown talent than go buy it. Our SP are probably a collection of 2-3’s but there is not a glaring weakness.
Cj was not a number last year no matter what. Holland could be a number two but at most has john danks potential, and feliz is a huge question mark. Colby lewis is not a number 2 pitcher.
So you just summarized exactly what I said. Cliff Lee actually commented that Holland had the best stuff of a left hander that he has ever seen. It is maturity for him. And I did say he had potential, not was. There was an if in my Feliz comments. And I stated that Colby is a #4 in season but better in post season.
Why would they let Hamilton walk? They have no problem signing outsiders like Beltre and now Darvish to big contracts but can’t give their heart and soul his due?
Because he is injured a lot and will probably want 20 mil plus.
The Rangers starters last year combined for 19.8 WAR last year, good for 3rd in all of baseball. They posted a 3.80 FIP with a remarkably close ERA of 3.65. They didn’t really have a “top end ace” but all of their starters made atleast 27 starts and posted between 3-6 WAR. You can never have enough pitching and it would be wise for them to look for upgrades especially after losing Wilson, but these aren’t your late 90’s Rangers anymore.
They had a pitcher who performed like a top of the line ace and now hes gone
An ace does not lose every playoff game he starts and set the record for the most walks … EVER … in the playoffs.
Wilson was a great pitcher, but he’s not an ace.
I’d say he was a borderline ace last year. My point wasn’t really about Wilson, it was more to extinguish the incorrect assumption that the Rangers are an “all offense, win games 16 to 14” team. An assumption that has followed this team since the early 2000’s, when they were in fact an all offense team. Losing Wilson may hurt, but they are sold on Darvish, have a logjam of capable starters and they are expecting huge steps forward for Holland and they are pretty confident that they didn’t think CJ Wilson was worth 80mm and I guess I don’t blame them
Yes holland can certianly improve though i do like harrison better, but the point is about certainity, getting a true one or two pitcher would help insure their still a good staff even if ogando or holland regress.
Verlander was awful in the playoffs i guess he was an ace either. Whether or wilson was an ace really doesnt matter he was by far their best pitcher.
Holland had 4 complete game shutouts. All of the pitchers had 13+ wins (I know wins aren’t a tell tell stat) and all but Lewis had a sub 4 ERA. Wilson was good and he was the best but not by far. You are not the best by far and your team goes to within one strike of winning the World Series and you lose 4 games enroute. We lost 6 games in the post season and he had 4 of them. Not even close to being the best by far.
I wasnt refering, to a small postseason sample look at his stats from the season and tell he wasnt alot better than holland.
I think I am getting at what you are saying and no, CJ was not a lot better than Holland. More consistent (so in essence better but not a lot as you say) but when Holland is on he was and is much better than CJ.
I agree, starting pitchers can’t be categorized as good or bad playoff performers just because they over/underperformed in a particular season. Verlander has had an ERA over 5.00 both years he has pitched in the postseason, and Sabathia’s poor pitching doomed the Yankees last postseason. Baseball is sometimes simply unpredictable. Would anyone want Colby Lewis over either one of these horses?
Don’t misuse the word “great”. Pedro martinez, Sandy Koufax and others were great. C.J. is a good pitcher who has only had 2 years of starting experience and has bombed under pressure.
So did verlander but yes lets focus on a sample size so small that it makes colby lewis seem great
I see where you are going with that. Adding Fielder would make a great team greater. Why would someone want that? Think things through. The acquisition of Fielder wouldn’t just be for this year. It’s for the future as well. A future that will surely soon see some of the current contributors gone.
I would like to see Darvish sign in the MLB not that I want to see the Rangers improve, far from it, but it would be nice to see if this can’t miss Japanese power pitcher is the real deal! MLB has shifted, quite rapidly, to a pitcher dominated sport. If this kid really has command of 6 different pitches at varying velocities, he could make hitters look just ridiculous at the plate.
BTW for those keeping score, should the Rangers sign Darvish, the Angels are still leading by a Pujols.
And an Iannetta. Seriously, I think the difference between him and Mathis is going to be a huge boost for the Angels.
Not so sure about that. We are better at Catcher, 3rd, SS, 2nd (but very close, I do like Kendrick), LF, RF and bullpen. That gives you an edge at SP but we have not had an issue beating it and CF. I think the test of who comes out on top will be how the Ranger’s starters progress this year and if Holland becomes the #2 that he has the potential to become, Harrison continues being that 2-3 starter and improves, and what happens with Feliz.
Unless the Rangers counter with Fielder 😉
I’m hoping that we see a buddy comedy starring Nolan Ryan and Yu Darvish. What a hoot!
“Y’all Darvish”
I don’t think Darvish signs with the Rangers. They just aren’t a glamour team. He’ll price himself so high just to get out of playing for them.
But if he doesn’t sign he goes back to the NPB and waits another season and risks another season of injuries before becoming eligible to play in MLB where he has made it clear he wants to be. Not only that, but he is a case where open bidding will not necessarily increase how much he can get, especially a year older. If the Rangers pony up like the BoSox dd for Dice-K plus maybe a little extra, then they are making a pretty huge commitment, a commitment that only a few teams in all of MLB would be comfortable with.
It’s not necessarily in his best interests to send himself back to the NPB at this point.
Personally, I wouldn’t believe everything everyone says. Darvish could very well likely give the polite answer that he wants to go, but privately think something else. He wasn’t exactly eager to say that he wanted to go until after the posting. Who knows if he really wants to come to MLB at this time? The Japanese are not as direct as North Americans.
Also don’t be under the impression that it is all about money either. While money is nice and more money seems to be nicer, culturally you’re dealing with different people here. Iwakuma could have gone to Oakland last year, but it was pretty clear that he wanted to go to Seattle and play with Ichiro. Like I said, before the Rangers aren’t a glamour team. I am sure any player coming over that is a star in the NPB would like to call the shots on where they go.
Actually, in Japan Nolan is very highly thought of and so are the Rangers for the way they have built their team and how they value and scout more than any other team in the Pacific rim. Most teams have largely ignored this area and the Rangers have more scouts there than any other team. So why we may not be as glamorous (although how many WS trips have these so called glamour teams had over the past 2 years?) we have a very good repoire in Japan.
I guess we’ll find out come 4 pm how much cache and/or cash the Rangers have and if it is enough to lure the Darv over to this side of the Pacific or not.
I guess it was. I thought the contract would be for more so I a mpleasantly surprised.
Very convenient for Rangers fans to forget entire chunks of history and just remember the last two years in which the Rangers, might I remind you, didn’t win anything. Nobody goes down in the books for having “world series appearances”. Also, I hear a lot about the amount of scouting the Rangers do in the Pacific Rim, but who have they signed? Tateyama? I hope those scouts aren’t getting paid very much.
Pennants are thing. Elsewise, no one would have shouted, “THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!”
Also, the Rangers signed Colby Lewis from Japan, as well. That guy has pitched more innings in the World Series over the last two seasons than anyone.
Trust me I have not forgotten. I have been a fan since I was a kid but we do live a world of what have you done for me lately. As far as players that played in NPB that we have signed, Colby Lewis would have to be at the top. He completely washed out of MLB and went over there, found his stuff and due to good scouting, the Rangers signed him to a 3 yr $8 mil deal and he has been a steal. We also have a good repoire due to the fact that we have several Japanese players, although not scouted or directly picked up from NPB. They include Chan Ho “can we get a do over” Park, Otsuka, Irabu, Uehara, Fukomuri and Tateyama.
Clearly you have not been reading much about the topic. Everything I have read states that Japan is enamored with the Rangers due to back to back WS appearances and their love for Nolan. To them The Rangers are a “glamor team.” And if you don’t consider them one then I would guess that only the Yankees or Red Sox would qualify. Neither of which are interested. This is his best option.
For Japanese players I was thinking more of the teams like Mariners, Dodgers along with the Yankees and Red Sox.
The Yankees didn’t spend any money on any players so far this off-season, going after the Mariner pitchers via trade, but I’m sure the idea of paying a posting fee plus whatever it was going to cost to sign Darvish was not appealing with the track record of the players they have signed from NHB. Same goes for the Red Sox.
The Yankees appear to be trying a different approach this year and Boston is more or less set with their rotation. In a couple of years things will likely change.
I guess Kuroda contract doesnt count, and the Yankess have done the posting fee twice before at least so you dont have a clue what you are talking about. They are not spending to avoid the payroll penalties they would suffer.
does the posting fee count towards payroll? I feel I should know this but I dont
No it doesn’t.
thanks for the info. I caught myself googling it but not much luck
I would much rather texas get this guy than fielder. I don’t see him being the same type of pitcher in MLB and that texas heat will break him down. People saying hes a #1, but i see him being more of a #3 which i can deal with texas getting.
As a #3 Darvish would be an epic disappointment.
He’s half Iranian. Something tells me he’d be able to handle the heat just fine.
Rangers need to hurry up and sign Yu already so they can start negotiating with Prince.
6 years? Good luck, Rangers. I know Darvish was great in Japan, but it doesn’t mean he will be great over here. He will be a solid #4.
No one knows what he will be, but he is far, far better than all the previous Japanese pitchers. So for him to end up a #4, I think it will mean a colossal collapse…and I just don’t think with the Rangers impressive scouting history (the last 4 years, anyway), that’s going to happen.
Yes, he was far better. All the others were terrible. So it sets him up to me a middle-back end guy.
Hideo Nomo was nearly the Cy Young winner. Dice-K was 4th in Cy Young voting. He probably could have been a good #3 guy until his arm blew up. I doubt he’ll be anything less than a #3, but like I said…we won’t know until 4 years from now.
But overall, their career’s were terrible. He might be an ace. Or he might be Kei Igawa. But one thing’s for sure: I wouldn’t spend 100mm+ on him.
There’s a reason JD and this scouting team is one of the most successful groups in the league. I’ll take their opinions over a guy on mlbtr.
Would you prefer a 1 year deal with a 52 million dollar posting fee? 1 year 62 million total?
Once youve committed the fee, you’ve got to take advantage and get him for approx 10 mil per year for as long as you can, banking on that your scouts are right.
Its risky, but ending up around 6/$110 total could still end up as a steal if he is what many people think he is. And a handful of Japanese starters who wern’t are irrelevant.
It’s not irrelevant at all. It’s a completely different game over there. I wouldn’t have posted a 50mm+ bid anyway.
All this business regarding Yu Darvish and Yoenis Cespedes is really getting annoying. I think it’s insane to give players who haven’t played a single game in the USA millions of dollars that they show they haven’t earned. Baseball in Cuba and Japan is a whole lot different than the MLB.
Also, it is absolutely ridiculous that teams have to and are willing to spend 50+ million just to talk to the player/agent like the Rangers had to do with Darvish.
It seems way more logical to spend all that money on hitters and pitchers that actually have experience in the MLB.
This dude is going to be in the Top 3 of the Cy Young voting every year for the next 5. He is a stud and will dominate once he gets acclimated to MLB. Just wait and see what Yu is going to do for the Texas Rangers, must be nice to have all that money. MLB needs a salary cap and an international draft.
They don’t need a salary cap. That’s completely ridiculous. And let’s wait and see how he pitches here to make that claim. See: Igawa, Dice-BB, and Nomo.
Nomo was a great pitcher at one point
So was Dice-BB. Overall, terrible.
I don’t think its particularly needed, but calling a salary cap “completely ridiculous” is.. completely ridiculous?
Not exactly unheard of territory in sports leagues, and there is already the beginnings of one in the MLB with the luxury tax.
Darvish is supposed to be FAR better than Nomo, and Nomo was a terrific MLB pitcher for a number of years. Eventually he came down to earth, and he was still pretty decent.
2 top 5 Cy Young finishes
Rookie of the Year
2 times the highest K/9 rate
regularly a top 5 K/9 finisher
190+ IP 7 times
Dice-K goes down as a bust more because of his lack of abiity to stay healthy than anything else. When healthy, one could do far worse.
He’s supposed to be, but that’s not a lock. I just wouldn’t be surprised to see him bust. The bottom line is they don’t last over here. No matter how good they were in Japan.
I agree that a bust is still possible. His stuff translates well though. If he is a bust, then the slew of Japanese players coming to MLB will come to a near halt.
Without addressing your other complaints… even if there was an international draft then I highly doubt Darvish’s situation would change. The Fighters are selling a player and the highest bid went to the Rangers. Stop pouting.
Expecting him to be as good or better than Verlander, Weaver, and Sabathia right out of the gate is pretty optomistic.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the difference in temps he will be playing at. His clubs hometown averages 70F in the summer. There is no way he is going to be conditioned to pitch 80+ innings at home with 100F temps and 90% humidity. Hes going to get injured before the year is over.
Except that hes in excellent condition? He’s not Daisuke. The temperature will certainly be a difference, but this isn’t 1920 – we know how to deal with heat. Get a ton of fluids, be in shape and you will be fine. The CJ Wilson model.
It is nowhere near that humid in Texas in the dead of summer. Actually, it doesn’t rain at all during that time. Humidity ranges between 50-60% yearly and is at the low in the summer. In Hokkaido it usually only reaches 80 but the humidity is 80%. It will be a big difference but don’t judge this last summer on how it usually is. This was the hottest summer ever.
He plays in a dome in Hokkaido. Now when he travels south and plays in the heat against the Hawks or Marines, he is outside in the heat and humidity.
People, 5 or 6 past Japanese starters are irrelevant. Its the scouting report that makes Darvish worth a ton, not his Japanese stats.
Hes not 6″ overweight Daisuke, hes 6″5′. Hes not a soft tosser/junk baller who happened to get results in Japan. He’s the prototypical pitcher build with great stuff and good command.
If you want to look at Japanese stats, don’t be an idiot and just say “oh this guy had hype too”, look at the actual stats.
For example, Kei Igawa should never be mentioned with Yu Darvish. In his 3 years prior to coming over to the MLB, Kei Igawa’s ERA was about 3.7 total. Darvish? 1.7. Oh gee, thats just under HALF. Darvish’s K:BB in his final Japanese year was 276 to 36. In his entire career Igawas best strikeout total was 228 and lowest walks 49. He also allowed a lot of homeruns, guess how many Darvish allowed last year? 5. The year before? 5.
Darvish isn’t Igawa, he isn’t Daisuke, he isn’t any of these guys. His build is better, his stuff is better, his Japan results were better. Hes better.
Wow, man! You are on fiiiyaaah!!!
Very thoughtful (and convincing) argument. Darvish’s publicity honcho better look out…you might just be replacing him soon!! 😉
Flagged for review, gasp!
Must be all those “four-letter-stats” you used! :p
I don’t mind the stats. The only fact matters more on the transition for Japanese pitcher is the rests between starting day.
If no Yu then I could see a Prince and Oswalt signing in TX.
They actually have a countdown clock going on the MLB Network. :facepalm:
Why not? Its January 18th, not exactly a ton going on.
The Darvish countdown clock is also the Prince Fielder finally gets ready to sign clock knowing for sure if the Rangers are in or not.
Even if Texas does not sign Fielder, I’m going to say it: “Texas is now buying championships.” Ha, I said it!
We figured out that not buying it only gets you one strike away!
That hurt to write but was too witty to leave out.