Darvish Derby filled with intrigue By Franz Lidz, Special to SI.comYu Darvish went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA and 276 strikeouts for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters last season.Toru Hanai/REUTERSA half-century ago the American public was fixated on a Rocky & Bullwinkle adventure that chronicled the search for the Kerwood Derby, a magical bowler hat that turned its wearer into an egghead. Today hot-stovers on two continents endlessly speculate about the Darvish Derby, the posting auction for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish that concludes at 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The 25-year-old right-hander, the most dominating pitcher in the Japanese professional leagues, went 18-6 this season for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, led the Pacific League with 276 strikeouts and finished with a sub-1.90 ERA for the fifth straight year (a career-best 1.44). Will the winner of the Darvish Derby turn out to be Kerwood-clever or Bullwinkle-boneheaded?"Yu is the top pitcher in Japan and top pitcher of his generation," claims Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, the definitive English book on Japanese baseball. Darvish is also the top-paid player in Japan."Darvish is extremely talented," concedes New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. "But in terms of how it transitions, it's hard to say,"Boston's new manager Bobby Valentine, who faced Darvish while managing seven seasons in Japan, has said the 6-foot-5 right-hander is "10 times more talented and 20 times more poised than Daisuke Matsuzaka was at the same age." Considering that five years ago the Red Sox won the Matsuzaka Derby by offering the moon ($51.1 million to the Seibu Lions, $52 million over six years to Dice-K), it's presumed that to win the Darvish Derby, a team may have to offer the stars and perhaps throw in an asteroid or two.Under the posting system, major league clubs can submit sealed bids for the exclusive rights to negotiate with Darvish. The Fighters will then be notified of the highest bid, though not of the name of the major league team that made it. If they take the offer -- they have until Dec. 20 to accept or reject it -- the bidder then has 30 days to finalize a contract with Darvish. If no deal is reached, Darvish returns to the Fighters for another season, and no money changes hands.The Darvish Derby's Catch 22: The higher the top bid, the more that team will have to pay Darvish, who's said to be looking for a contract with fewer years than Dice-K's and a much higher annual salary. If his terms aren't met, he has indicated that he'd be happy to walk. If only as a point of pride, he would have to be paid at least as much as the Fighters' posting fee, and more than Dice-K's $51.1 million.At this point, seven franchises look to be the most serious bidders:1. Toronto Blue Jays (odds: 5-2)The interest is there: Late this summer Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos fly to Japan to personally scout Darvish.The money is there: The Blue Jays have the game's wealthiest owner in Rogers Communications, and insist that they have no compunction about spending once the team is a contender. Not only are the Jays clear of the preposterous salaries of Vernon Wells and Alex Rios, but Darvish would not count against the luxury tax.The need is there: Signing Darvish won't automatically make Toronto a World Series contender, but it could take them a step closer.2. Texas Rangers (3-1)Conventional thinking is that Rangers president Nolan Ryan will throw a high, hard one to countermand the division rival Los Angeles Angels, who poached its ace, free-agent C.J. Wilson, and dropped $254 million on Albert Pujols. But is the unproven Darvish (unproven in the U.S., at least) worth the investment to a tight-fisted team whose 2011 opening day payroll is already expected to rise by some $13 million next spring? Sure, the Rangers have been trolling for starting pitchers, but they seem more interested in cheaper alternatives such as Athletics lefty Gio Gonzalez and Cubs right-hander Matt Garza. Factor in a $30 million payment to former CEO Chuck Greenberg, $12 million in stadium improvements and a rumored play for free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder (estimated asking price: $150 million), and Texas doesn't have a whole lot of wriggle room.3. Washington Nationals (6-1)The Nationals are flush with cash and have recently taken even wilder, more ill-advised gambles. How else to explain Jayson Werth?4. New York Yankees (15-1)The Yankees still suffer from buyer's remorse over the signings of Japanese hurlers Katsihiro Maeda (1996), Hideki Irabu (1997) and Kei Igawa (2006). All were busts, arguably none more Maeda, a 24-year-old righty who had been clocked with a 98-mph fastball. Called the Dennis Rodman of baseball, Maeda never made the The Show and recorded as many hair colors in the Yankees farm system (silver, purple, hot-pink...) as victories. By 2001, he was back in Japan.It may not help Darvish's cause that Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach Trey Hillman, Darvish's first pro skipper, dubs the swaggering heartthrob the "Elvis of Japan." Suspicious minds think that GM Brian Cashman may be readying a major stealth move, as he did with Mark Teixeira two years ago. More likely, he's looking to avoid another possible trip to the Heartbreak Hotel.5. Boston Red Sox (19-1)Though Valentine thinks Darvish could be among the five best pitchers in the majors, team management has been chastened by the career of Matsuzaka, who started strong (33-15 with a 3.72 ERA over his first two seasons) but faded quickly (16-15, 5.03 ERA over the last three). Elbow surgery will likely ice Dice-K until well past the All-Star break.6. Seattle Mariners (25-1)The Mariners, who plucked Ichiro Suzuki from Japan in 2000, would fulfill Darvish's stated preference to play on the West Coast. As much as Darvish would fit neatly behind Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda in Seattle's rotation, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said earlier this month that he'd rather bring in a veteran pitcher to counsel some of the younger arms. That remark seemed to rule out splurging on Darvish.7. Los Angeles Angels (30-1)Despite their recent $331.5 million outlay for Wilson and Pujols, the Angels may have more discretionary income at their disposal than the Rangers. Texas' new 20-year, $1.6 billion TV deal with Fox Sports Southwest doesn't kick in until 2015. L.A.'s 20-year, $3 billion contract with Fox Sports West begins next year. Still, the Angels have shown less-than-zero interest in turning the network into Yu-Tube.
I guess Theo is too busy going after Pujols Fielder Zambrano to be bothered with real starting pitching.
I heard earlier reports that the Cubs were one of the serious contenders, but apparently not if they weren't even listed in the top 7 here.Didn't hear anything about the Oreos...
WAR EAGLE!!!: Shit's on.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/12/14/yu.darvish/Hearing more recently that it's really down to the Jays & Rangers with a slight edge to the Jays.
NEW YORK (AP)—After losing a pair of aces in the last two years, the Texas Rangers are going global to land a new one.Winner of consecutive AL pennants, Texas also won the Yu Darvish sweepstakes Monday night with a record bid of $51.7 million. Now, the Rangers get 30 days to negotiate a contract with Darvish that would put Japan’s best pitcher at the top of their rotation.“Obviously, it’s a very exciting night for our organization, our fans and our community,” general manager Jon Daniels said on a conference call.Major League Baseball announced that the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League accepted the highest bid for Darvish. That sealed offer was submitted under the posting system by the Rangers.“Our ownership went the extra mile on this one,” Daniels said, declining to reveal specifics.A person familiar with the details said the winning bid by Texas was $51.7 million—more than the $51.1 million posting fee the Boston Red Sox paid for Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2006. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the figure was not made public.Yahoo Sports and The New York Times reported the amount first.Darvish is considered the best pitcher in the Japanese professional leagues and several of baseball’s biggest spenders were thought to be interested in him.If the Rangers can close the deal, the 25-year-old right-hander would join a rotation that already includes five starters: Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Alexi Ogando and former closer Neftali Feliz, moved out of the bullpen when the club signed free-agent reliever Joe Nathan this offseason.“If we’re able to sign him (Darvish), then we’ll have a very good problem on our hands,” Daniels said.It’s a dynamic endeavor for the Rangers, buoyed by a lucrative television contract and back-to-back AL championships under a new ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg and his partner, Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. But the team is still chasing its first World Series title—and Texas knows all too well that nothing is done until it is done.Despite a serious effort, the Rangers were unable to re-sign star pitcher Cliff Lee following the 2010 season. They made it back to the World Series anyway and were within one strike of winning it all—twice—before the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to take the trophy.Then the Rangers lost their latest ace, C.J. Wilson, when the left-hander agreed to a $77.5 million, five-year contract with the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels this month.“Our commitment of our ownership is to put the best team out there. The last couple of years we just haven’t been able to close it out,” Daniels said.Bidding for the posting fee closed last Wednesday, and the Ham Fighters had until 5 p.m. EST on Tuesday to accept. The fee will be paid only if a contract agreement is reached with Darvish’s agents, Arn Tellem and Don Nomura.If no deal is finalized, Darvish returns to the Fighters for another season.Two months ago, the Rangers let a championship slip away. They don’t want the same thing to happen with Darvish.In a statement released before the conference call, the Rangers said they were “pleased and excited” to win the rights to negotiate with Darvish.“Our organization has scouted Mr. Darvish for the last several years and has been very impressed with his abilities and accomplishments. We believe he would be a great addition to the Texas Rangers pitching staff,” the team said. “We look forward to beginning the next step of this process in the very near future.”Darvish, the son of an Iranian father and a Japanese mother, went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA last season. He had 276 strikeouts to lead the Pacific League.The Fighters gave him approval to negotiate with a major league club through the posting system. Matsuzaka and Ichiro Suzuki went to the majors under the same system.Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was a member of the Japanese national team that won the 2009 World Baseball Classic.The 6-foot-5 Darvish has superb control and throws seven effective pitches. It’s expected he would make a front-line major league starter, though the MLB track record of Japanese aces is shaky.“Darvish is the No. 1 pitcher in Japan, but we want him to become the ace of the world,” Nippon Ham team representative Toshimasa Shimada said this month.Darvish turned pro in 2005 at 18. His professional career got off to a rocky start when he was caught smoking in a pachinko parlor on an off day during his first spring training, despite not being old enough to legally smoke nor to gamble at the time.In 2007, Darvish won the Eiji Sawamura Award presented to the top pitcher in Japanese professional baseball after posting a 15-5 record with a 1.82 ERA and a league-leading 210 strikeouts.The Red Sox signed Matsuzaka in 2006 to a six-year, $52 million contract, taking the total package—including the posting fee—to more than $100 million.
Fuck.If your sports-fan life was your real life, this last month kind of feels like I got laid off from work, and my wife left me to do porn and took the house and 99% of my paycheck.I am the Job of sports fans right now.
Give it time, she will.
I always wondered how it felt to be an Oreos fan.
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