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Darvish-yIt is for six years and $60 million in addition to the $51 million the Rangers forked over to negotiate with the 25-year-old righty.
The point of compromise came with the sixth year. Darvish wanted five. He can get that five-year deal should he reach two performance thresholds, which would allow that sixth year to be a player option.
This all went ... smoothly. There were no media outbursts or leveraging. The two parties had a certain amount of time to come to a deal. Each had certain expectations and, mostly, those expectations were met. Most though the deal would be five or six years. Most thought it'd be in the neighborhood of $10 million per year.
What happened yesterday afternoon will most likely do one of two things: Go down as one of the greatest moments in the franchise or wind up being a colossal bust, but a risk worth taking.
I don't think there's a Rangers fan or baseball lover that doesn't honestly think Darvish could flame out, at least over time. Those same people also think the $111 million invested is worth every penny.
Trust me, this is worth every penny. I fully expect us in six years to look back at Jan. 18 as a red-letter day for the local baseball club.
Darvish has been in the back of every baseball man's mind for about seven years when he was a teenager. Scouts salivated over him then as they do now.
The Rangers are getting him at the prime of his career. Although Hideo Nomo and Daisuke Matsuzaka were similiar in age (26) when they made their MLB debut, neither had the numbers overseas like Darvish.
Neither were built like Darvish. Probably thanks to his Iranian blood, Darvish is 6-5 and about 220 pounds. He throws five different pitches (two-seam, four-seam, slider, cutter, curve) well and allegedly has another two on the shelf.
Darvish is not your typical Japanese import. He could change this franchise, shake it to its very core.
Clearly, Darvish will make the Rangers steady rotation even better. Although consistent, the Rangers' rotation needed another arm. Neftali Feliz is no sure bet as he makes his debut as a starter. Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando are relative rookies with just a year of consistent success.
What it also does it make the bullpen much better. Chances are, Ogando might find himself the odd man out of the rotation and will be sent back to the bullpen. An awesome problem to have, too many good pitchers.
Here is the projected rotation on Opening Day:
Colby Lewis
Matt Harrison
Yu Darvish
Derek Holland
Neftali Feliz
Furthermore, here is your Opening Day bullpen:
Joe Nathan
Mike Adams
Alexi Ogando
Koji Uehara
Yoshi Tateyama
Scott Feldman
Mark Lowe
Those are 12 guys you can win with, certainly. The Texas Rangers are the center of the baseball universe. The Los Angeles Angels made the big splash early. All of the attention, now, has headed back east.
It is good to spend a little money and get some pitching in here.
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