Rangers Sign Darvish

[ThomasTomasz]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—Texas Rangers President Nolan Ryan says he’s confident of signing Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish by a Wednesday deadline.

Ryan expressed his feelings to reporters Thursday at the Rangers’ annual winter banquet, one week after Darvish visited the North Texas area where he would be pitching. The Hall-of-Famer declined to elaborate on how close both sides were in the contract talks, but he assured that he expected a deal to be reached on a contract with the 25-year-old right-hander.

The Rangers, who have won consecutive AL pennants, put in a record bid of about $51.7 million for the right to negotiate with Japan’s best pitcher. A 30-day negotiating window began when their bid was accepted Dec. 20 by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-rangers-darvish

Darvish is the domino waiting to fall for the off-season to finish up. I have a feeling that Fielder is waiting to see if the Rangers can't sign Darvish, and he and Boras will try to land in Texas. If the Rangers can sign Darvish, it is anyones guess where Fielder will go.

 

[NAHSTE]

Done deal.

Six years, roughly $60 million.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story...-six-year-deal-worth-approximately-60-million

 

[Leftwich]

That's one rich chink.

 

[NAHSTE]

That's one rich chink.

The preferred nomenclature is nipper.

 

[EmpireWF]

Isn't he Middle Eastern?

 

[Leftwich]

Isn't he Middle Eastern?

Thats one rich Sand Nipper

 

[NAHSTE]

Isn't he Middle Eastern?

His dad is Iranian, his mom is Japanese, and they met here in the states. I think he'll transition well to the states because of his parents' living here. He probably grew up hearing about the culture so he knows what to expect.

 

[Leftwich]

I'm excited to see him play. I hope he does well here.

 

[Derrville]

A year too late.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

So it is around $112 million total for Darvish............thought that the contract would have been worse, but they still paid for more him than the Red Sox paid Dice-K. Just given the history of pitchers transitioning over, I wouldn't have given that money to Darvish, but I'll also say he is probably the one player best equipped for it.

Now we get to see how quickly Fielder gets off the market.

 

[NAHSTE]

So it is around $112 million total for Darvish............thought that the contract would have been worse, but they still paid for more him than the Red Sox paid Dice-K. Just given the history of pitchers transitioning over, I wouldn't have given that money to Darvish, but I'll also say he is probably the one player best equipped for it.

Now we get to see how quickly Fielder gets off the market.

Posting fee doesn't count against the luxury tax, and they have the money to blow since they just inked a lucrative TV contract. Texas is very much a large market team now. (As they always should have been really, since they play in a large market, lol.)

Since the posting fee doesn't count towards the tax, it's just money to them. It doesn't effect their ability to put a team together and you have increasing revenue on the horizon, so why not? Six years at $10 million per season could be a bargain if Yu turns out to be a true front line ace.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Posting fee doesn't count against the luxury tax, and they have the money to blow since they just inked a lucrative TV contract. Texas is very much a large market team now. (As they always should have been really, since they play in a large market, lol.)

Since the posting fee doesn't count towards the tax, it's just money to them. It doesn't effect their ability to put a team together and you have increasing revenue on the horizon, so why not? Six years at $10 million per season could be a bargain if Yu turns out to be a true front line ace.

I know it doesn't count against the tax, but it is still an investment on their part. $110 million for a player who has yet to pitch one inning for MLB. I just wouldn't do that, even as a large market team.

 

[EmpireWF]

When you lose the World Series two years in a row, it's worth the gamble.

 

[NAHSTE]

I know it doesn't count against the tax, but it is still an investment on their part. $110 million for a player who has yet to pitch one inning for MLB. I just wouldn't do that, even as a large market team.

He's 26 though and outperformed the best Daisuke and Nomo numbers in the NPL by a drastic margin. Plus he's 6'5, 210, not like the slight build of most Japanese imports.

I think he's one of the few guys who is worth the risk. Then again, maybe I'm just drinking the kool-aid because he'll likely be on my fantasy team's staff this season.

:marshmellow:

 

[FedEx227]

You have to pay a high price for premiere talent. Yes he's unproven but talent wise there's a lot there. He has a much better rep than Nomo, Irabu, Dice-K, etc.