Yu Darvish has just signed a deal for about $60 million with the Texas Rangers. He’s coming over from Japan to great fanfare. However, as we talked yesterday about the young pitchers for the Rangers learning defense from Greg Maddux, we now have to deal with a young pitcher who is just coming across the Pacific.
Remember, the Rangers also paid $51.7 million just to talk to the kid. So, all in all, that’s $111.7 million in all to talk to this kid and pay him without one shred of proof that he is worth it. This makes me think of Dice-K up in Boston. They spent a ton of money to bid for the guy, took him, paid him way too much money, and he hasn’t delivered at all. So, while Darvish might be great, that does not mean that this deal is great. I can’t think of any reason to pay over $50 million to talk to someone when you can find young pitchers here in the states that will be able to talk to you for free.
I know that the Rangers, overall, are a well-run team, but I just don’t understand this move. Paying for the right to talk to someone, all by itself, is wrong on the face of it. Plus, Darvish has only faced Japanese talent. What happens when he plays in the highly contentious AL West?
Ultimately, Jon Daniels’ reasoning is not enough:
“We saw a guy that we felt was built to pitch innings and has a classic pitcher’s build. He has a real commitment to his conditioning and work ethic. We think he can pitch innings at a high caliber for a large amount of time.”
That’s only if he isn’t like Dice-K, and all that has over $100 million hanging in the balance. That’s too risky for my blood.
