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Yu Better Believe It: Darvish to the Rangers
Thursday January 19th, 2012
Sam Evans: Last night, the Texas Rangers finally agreed to a contract with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. The Rangers, who won the bidding to exclusively negotiate with Darvish last month, are acquiring a talented young starting pitcher. They definitely didn’t pay a small price for Darvish. We shall see if it was a worthy investment in the years to come.
Yesterday was the last day of bartering between the two sides. If Darvish and the Rangers could not come to terms on a contract, then Darvish would have pitched in Japan for the upcoming year. Luckily, they came to an agreement and we will see Darvish in the major leagues this year.
After the Rangers paid $51.7 million to negotiate with Darvish, it became clear that Darvish wasn’t going to come cheap. Darvish signed a 6-year, $60 million contract, making him the fourth highest paid player on the Rangers. In total, the Rangers are paying over $110 million for Darvish. On the other hand, C.J. Wilson who showed a desire to stay in Texas, wasn’t offered a contract. He ended up signing with the Angels for 5-years, $77.5 million.
One thing Yu Darvish has shown in Japan is the ability to carry a heavy workload. Darvish has pitched over two hundred innings in Japan every year for the last five years. Unlike other aspects of the game, an inning in Japan is the exact same thing as an inning in the majors. Conversely, I’m worried about the quality of hitters Darvish will be facing in North American. Japanese professional baseball is often compared to Triple-A. Both are considered to be leagues with hitters who don’t rely as much on scouting reports and can be overwhelmed with a fastball. In the majors, Darvish is going to have to deal with advanced scouting watching every game he pitches, and then analyzing and finding a way for opposing hitters to beat Darvish.
In my opinion, it’s crazy that the Rangers are paying this much for a player who has never even pitched in the minor leagues. This is a huge risk that the Rangers have shown that they’re willing to take. Personally, I would rather have C.J. Wilson for thirty million dollars less. Darvish should be a successful pitcher in the major leagues. His awesome array of pitches will likely baffle Major League hitters this year. Not to mention, the shuuto he throws will be something that most MLB hitters have never seen. Nevertheless, the Rangers are paying Darvish thirty million more than Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez, and Chris Carpenter.
With his contract, Darvish will have to be an immediate ace for the Texas rotation in order to be worth the money. If I were the Rangers, I’d rather have used that money to go after Prince Fielder and sign him to a short-term deal. Fielder would be a bigger upgrade for the Rangers at first base over Mitch Moreland than Darvish will be over say, Alexi Ogando. The Rangers could have possibly signed Fielder to a 3-year deal, and brought in a veteran pitcher like Roy Oswalt to fill out the rotation. The Rangers would have had a much superior team than they will have with just Darvish… for the same price. I’m not doubting Texas GM Jon Daniels, but I think the Rangers might have gotten a little bit carried away in the Darvish extravaganza. Besides his on-field performance, the Rangers are betting that between international merchandise sales and marketing exposure, Darvish will literally pay himself. Time will tell on that one.
For 2012, the Rangers will be looking to compete with the Angels to take the AL West. While the Angels overall roster has a slight edge on the Rangers, Texas has enough minor league talent to go and acquire a star first basemen at the trade deadline if Prince does not come aboard. Overall, Rangers fans should not be worried about the Darvish contract. The Rangers may have overpaid, but Darvish will bring youth and potential to a Rangers rotation that needs it. If everything goes well, the Rangers will have six years of Darvish to keep them continually in the running for a World Series title.
***Today’s feature was prepared by our Baseball Writer, Sam Evans. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Sam on Twitter***
Please e-mail us at: MLBreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan onFacebook . To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox , click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
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Yu Darvish to Texas: Samurai to Become a Ranger
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Sam Evans: On Monday, the Nippon Ham Fighters announced that the Texas Rangers had won the posting fee for 25 year-old pitcher Yu Darvish. The Rangers surrendered a record $51.7 million for the rights to negotiate a contract with Darvish. The Rangers are taking an expensive risk on Darvish, who should be penciled into the top of their rotation.
The Rangers now have thirty days from the signing to work out a contract with Darvish. My guess is the contract will be anywhere from four to six years at $35 to $60 million. That is a lot of money for any team to give to a prospect, but given the Rangers new TV deal, they can certainly afford it.
Over the last five years, Darvish posted a 1.72 ERA and struck out roughly one batter an inning in a league known for its pesky hitters. He quickly became a superstar in Japan, unlike any current American baseball player’s stature. He also led Japan to the 2009 WBC championship.
Yu Darvish is not only a Japanese baseball superstar, he is a pop culture icon as well.He is married to a Japanese actress (although reports indicate the couple is splitting), and he has his own blog called “Thoughts Of Yu”. Added pressure shouldn’t be a problem for Darvish because he has gotten used to it ever since cameras started following him around in high school. Realistically, Darvish shouldn’t have as much trouble with the language barrier as previous Japanese players.
Darvish is 6’5” and weighs only 185 pounds. If he were a traditional teenage prospect, then scouts would claim that he would need to “fill out his frame”. However, he is twenty-five and it’s probably too late for him to develop physically much more. Nonetheless, don’t rule it out. There are 255 Chick-Fil-A restaurants in the state of Texas, and hopefully Carlos Lee has left some wholesome American cuisine for Darvish to enjoy.
Darvish throws a four-seam fastball that sits around 94 MPH. He also throws two types of sliders, a cutter, a curve, and a shuuto. A shuuto is thrown around 90 MPH with movement that propels the ball inward on right-handed hitters. From what I have heard, Darvish is very projectable as a number two MLB starter. However, if he were to add a change-up to his repertoire, I think the Rangers could develop him into an ace. Not to mention, Yu Darvish will have the pitcher behind the greatest change-up of all-time, Greg Maddux and pitching coach, Mike Maddux, to work with throughout the season. Also team President, Nolan Ryan, know a thing or two about pitching as well.
If Darvish struggles in 2012, it will be because of command, above other things. Japan has built a reputation for a strike zone much larger than the one in the US, and that might be hard for him to get used to. Additionally, going from playing games indoors to under the sweltering Texas sun, wouldn’t an easy transition for anyone.
The Rangers don’t have the strongest rotation compared to other teams, but they definitely have depth. Assuming that Darvish will seamlessly transition to North America, the Rangers rotation will probably include Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz, Colby Lewis, and Derek Holland. Still, this leaves out Alexi Ogando, who was one of the Rangers brightest hurlers from last year.
The Rangers could use Ogando out of the bullpen, like they did effectively in the playoffs. Nevertheless, it would be a smarter decision if they traded one or two of their starters. With top prospect arms Neil Ramirez and Martin Perez hanging around in Triple-A, the Rangers have the depth to trade some of their arms.
A reasonable expectation for Darvish’s 2012 would be 180 IP, 3.50 ERA, and 165 IP. That is pretty impressive for a first-year player in the majors. It is questionable as to whether that is worth the 100+ million that the Rangers will likely shell out, but I believe that the Rangers front office management know what they are doing.
Even if everything doesn’t work out as planned for the Rangers with Darvish, the team is so loaded at every position that they can overcome almost any obstacle. Rangers GM Jon Daniels has led the Rangers to two straight World Series, and the Rangers believe that a Darvish acquisition would help them finally get over the hump. With the best pitching prospect ever to come out of Japan leading the way, there is no reason not to believe that the Rangers won’t finally fulfill their destiny and win it all in 2012.
***Today’s feature was prepared by our Baseball Writer, Sam Evans. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Sam on Twitter***
Please e-mail us at: MLBreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook . To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox , click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
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