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Yu Darvish Rumors: Texas Rangers Win Negotiating Rights With Record Bid

Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish has ended long-running speculation by announcing that he will use Japan's posting system to make himself available to Major League Baseball for the 2012 season

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7 Total Updates since December 8, 2011
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Yu Darvish: No Yankees? No Red Sox? What Does This Mean?

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Yu Darvish Rumors: Texas Rangers Win Record Bidding

The Texas Rangers have won the bidding war for Yu Darvish, the 25-year-old right-hander from Japan. The news was scooped by Yahoo!'s Jeff Passan (although Karl Ravech's initial reported rumor was dead on): 

@JeffPassan
Jeff Passan The Texas Rangers have won the posting auction of Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish with a record $51.7M bid, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.
Dec 20 via webFavoriteRetweetReply


The Rangers now have 30 days to negotiate a contract with Darvish, whose agent Arm Tellem said was pleased to hear they won the bid. If Darvish does sign with the Rangers, their rotation will be loaded even with the loss of C.J. Wilson. 

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Yu Darvish: Yankees Appear To Have Lost Bid, So What Does That Mean?

The winning posting bid for the right to negotiate with star Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish is expected to be announced Monday night, according to published reports. That winner is not expected to be the New York Yankees.

A variety of reports have indicated that both the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers have outbid the Yankees by a substantial margin, possibly posting bids in excess of the $51.1 million posting fee Daisuke Matsuzaka garnered. Toronto is considered the likely winner.

This would have to considered a huge risk for the Blue Jays, especially considering they will have to dole out a rich long-term contract on top of the posting in order to sign the 25-year-old Darvish.

What of the Yankees, though? Why weren’t they more aggressive here? They are obviously reluctant to trade top prospects for pitching which they have said they need.

Can this be considered an indication that the free-spending, win-at-all-costs days of the Yankees are gone? Are they now a business first and the Evil Empire second? With Hal Steinbrenner in charge after the passing of his father are the Yankees now more concerned about their bottom line? Are profits now more important than chasing championships?

I don’t know any of that for a fact. You do, however, have to wonder.

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Yu Darvish Rumors: If Blue Jays Win Rights, What Next For Yankees?

If the reports floating around the Inter-Google are to be believed -- and why wouldn't we believe them? -- it seems like Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish will be a member of the New York Yankees. The New York Post is reporting that the Toronto Blue Jays have placed the highest posting bid for Darvish, meaning that the Yankees will apparently not earn the negotiating rights to Darvish.

So, what do the Yankees do if Darvish is going elsewhere? GM Brian Cashman has said throughout the offseason that upgrading the team's starting pitching was his focus, but he has been unable to do that. The Yankees re-signed veteran Freddy Garcia, but have not added to the unsatisfying group they had last season. And if Darvish is off the table their options appear to be dwindling.

The Oakland Athletics have been soliciting offers for left-handed Gio Gonzalez, but I haven't found any reports that the Yankees have made any sort of serious offer for the talented young pitcher. The Chicago White Sox are dangling lefty John Danks, but various reports have indicated that Chicago wants catcher/designated hitter prospect Jesus Montero and one of the Yankees top young pitching prospects as well. 

That leaves veteran free-agent  Hiroki Kuroda as probably the most attractive pitcher currently available. Our friends at Pinstripe Alley are all in for a Kuroda signing. Personally, I have been less enthused by the idea of Kuroda in the Yankees rotation.

At this point, though, Kuroda might be the only option. If, that is, the Yankees do anything at all.

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Yu Darvish Rumors: Bids Must Be Turned In Today

The deadline for submitting bids in an effort to win the negotiating rights to Yu Darvish, the 25-year-old right-handed pitching phenom, is 5 p.m. ET today (Wednesday). There is a great deal of intrigue surrounding bids for Darvish, including just how seriously the New York Yankees will bid.

That, for us at SB Nation New York, is the primary question. Approaching today's bidding deadline most reports have the Yankees basically feigning interest.

The Yankees have been burned twice when it comes to signing Japanese pitchers. First, it was Hideki Irabu, who went from being 'The Japanese Nolan Ryan' to a 'Fat Toad' in the eyes of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Then it was Kei Igawa, whom the Yankees have spent $46 million on between the $26 million posting fee and the five-year, $20 million contract they signed him to. What they have gotten for their money is a pitcher who has set the Scranton-Wilkes Barre record for career AAA victories, has two big-league wins and has not seen the big leagues since a two-game cameo in 2008.

Reports from Japan say that Darvish is light years better than Igawa, and better than Daisuke Matsuzaka, whom the Red Sox paid a $51 million posting fee to negotiate with in 2006, ultimately signing him to a six-year, $52 million deal.

Will the third time be the charm for the Yankees? How interested are they in finding out? While the Yankees are yawning and downplaying real interest in Darvish, folks around baseball aren't buying what they are selling.

"They need him and when the Yankees need something they make a play for it,’’ one team executive predicted.

The Yankees have CC Sabathia and a slew of question marks in their starting rotation. Ivan Nova surprised everyone by going 16-4. Can he do it again? Freddy Garcia, at 34, had his best season in six years in 2010. What can the Yankees can get from A.J. Burnett or Phil Hughes? Will Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances be ready to contribute in 2012?

So, sure you can easily make the case that it's a no-brainer for the Yankees to be interested. Are they interested enough to fork over a posting fee of $30 million or more, and then sign Darvish to a rich long-term deal? We won't have to wait much longer to find out.

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Yu Darvish Rumors: Japanese Right-hander Coming To America

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