Yu da man. At least that's what the Texas Rangers are hoping. After watching the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim make history by signing 3-time NL MVP Albert Pujols to a blockbuster contract worth $254 Million over 10 years, as well as pry Texas' former ace C.J. Wilson from them, the Rangers were in need of a splash of their own to counter their division-rivals. That move seems to be made clear with the Rangers being the winners of the Yu Darvish sweepstakes. Hoping to land the Japanese sensation to help fill the void of Wilson as well as maintain supremacy in the American League West, Texas won the rights to negotiate with the 25 year old pitcher by posting a record-setting bid of $51.7 Million, surpassing the previous mark of $51 Million held by Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox prior to the 2007 season.
If and when a contract is agreed upon between both parties who have 30 days to strike a deal, the Rangers could very well be investing nearly $100 Million in Darvish who's won the Pacific League MVP Award twice in 2007 and 2009. And as we've learned in the past, Japanese stars overseas are hit or miss and have rarely panned out and have often been unable to duplicate their success at the Major League level. In fact, history has shown that the majority of Japanese players that have garnered the attention of the Major Leagues with mile high expectations, most of which are pitchers, often fail to meet those standards of an All-Star caliber player with only a few exceptions. According to sources however, many believe Darvish who's finished the last five seasons with an ERA under 2.00, will be the player who puts an end to the bust label many have begun to give players from overseas who come with such hype. And considering it was Nolan Ryan who knows a thing or two about pitching who decided to pull the trigger on placing a bid on the 6-foot-5 hurler, I'd say the Rangers know what they're doing.
Though the move of potentially acquiring a player who's unproven at the Major League level is risky, it sends a positive message to the Rangers fan base, letting them know that the organization is not ready to hand over the reigns to the division or the American League for that matter just yet as they look to make their third consecutive trip to the World Series with only one difference -- winning it. But that's not to say the Rangers front-office of Nolan Ryan and Jon Daniels have necessarily been sitting on the couch doing nothing this off-season. The Rangers' brain trust have been plenty active since the end of the 2011 season by bolstering an already dominant bullpen with the signing of former Twins closer Joe Nathan to take over for Neftali Feliz who will be moved to the starting rotation after serving two seasons as a reliever.
The signing of Darvish is also a great move from both an international standpoint as well as a marketing standpoint as it attracts fans overseas from Japan among other countries that could help generate revenue by selling merchandise and increase television ratings. It also opens the door to sell advertisements at Texas' Ballpark in Arlington to Japanese based companies. Other Major League ball clubs that have utilized this strategy include the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's. Darvish's repertoire includes a two-seam fastball, cutter, curveball, splitter and a change-up to compliment his primary pitches of a four-seam fastball which has been clocked as high as 97 mph and a slurve with a devastating break.
With Texas on the cusp of issuing a lucrative contract to Darvish, many keeping up with the MLB hot-stove are begging the question if the the move means the Rangers are no longer in the running for Prince Fielder. Prior to the announcement of Texas winning the posting rights to talk to the ace of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, the Rangers were said to be one of the possible suitors for the free-agent slugger. Those rumors may be days away from being put to rest however, if the Rangers indeed ink Darvish to a contract.
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