Rangers sign Darvish to six-year $60 mil deal

tmarie, you can never have too many pitchers.

calm down, guess who won the Sawamura award last season? Hint : it wasn't Darvish.

sfjp330, how long will you continue to manipulate statistics? Feliz went 10-6 in the Rangers orginization a couple of years ago? Well, he was 6-3 at Single A and 4-3 at Double A. You failed to mention that he went 4-6 the next year at Triple A. Not sign Darvish and make him a starter? Give me a break.

Yes, I know that. Like I said, he went 6-3 in A, 4-3 in AA, but only 4-6 in AAA. Heck, in the same year even Kei Igawa went 14-6 in AAA.

But look at the publicity this has already generated in Japan. Every kid will be wearing Darvish jersey and cap.

good deal by the Rangers. I think they got a steal. Darvish will be successful with the Rangers strong bats supporting him.

He said the pitcher is really excited about the opportunity in Texas

Damn! $60M to play baseball! In the state where bbq became famous no less! I'd be excited too!

"Darvish was the last and the best of the remaining talent in Japan" Ever heard of Tanaka fro Rakuten and Kaneko for Orix? I love these cracker jack comments.

Darvish may do well. I actually kinda hope he does. But, there is no such thing as a "sure thing". Just ask John Cusack. He discovered that back in '85.

Rangers paid that much cause they that's how much he is worth to them. Not signing him would've have been a PR disaster for the team. Besides, I'll bet that they have protected themselves in some way just in case he doesn't pan out.

Also, quite the coincidence that the day Darvish's divorce becomes official is the day the his signing with the Ranger's is announced. As one door closes, another one opens.

I've saide it before, but the $111 million investment is not just for his baseball skills. He is a star in Japan and that means big time licensing fees, advertising contracts, and broadcast fees for Texas. There will be Japanese companies advertising all over the stadium as all the games will be broadcast in Japan with highlights on all the news stations. I don't know how much Texas will make from all these deals, but I'm sure it is a pretty good investment for them. And the kid seems pretty good on the mound.

If Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux think Darvish is worth 60 million

Mike Maddux. The other non-HOF brother.

Darvish will have some problems with MLB as he challenges hitters with pitches down the middle of the plate and up in the zone and will have to learn that he can't dominate here like he did in Japan, but he has great movement and will have some room for error due to that. His control is good but his command within the zone seems a little spotty.

"his command within the zone seems a little spotty." Who where you watching? Give me a break. MLB pitchers all agree his command is superb. He is a sure thing, the money is just about what a front rotation guy gets. Market value.

Dice-K's let down was just one a rare unfortunate accident.

Here another Japanese kid, do you want $60 million??

Ma-kun will be next big prospect for sure. I can see Sawamura also being highly sought..and probably Kikuchi in the future.

"First thing on TV this morning, "60 million bucks for six years is too cheap." Gimme a break! For having never thrown a pitch in the Majors or finished a full season? For a rookie?!"

The WBC proved he could hang with anybody in the world.

Should be strong year for Rangers now that Y Darvish is in town. Team is also trying to woo Felder. N Ryan can recognize talent.

Sign me up!

he'll be there even with the darvish signing. it was always their plan to eventually move him into the rotation. ogando is out.

biculturalJan. 21, 2012 - 10:42PM JST sfjp330, how long will you continue to manipulate statistics? Feliz went 10-6 in the Rangers orginization a couple of years ago?

In 2008, in two minor league team, Feliz had this stats.

Here is a link: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=feliz-001nef&mobile=true

I like Darvish, and hope he does well with the Rangers, but that is a lot of money for a rather unproven talent. I think the posting fee system is a rip off, and MLB is going to demand a change soon. When you combine the two, the posting and the contract, he is almost at 18 million a season, that is up there with some of the best pitchers in the majors, but he has never thrown a pitch yet.

@Michael : agreed. MLB is not afraid of liabilities (perhaps)

The WBC proved he could hang with anybody in the world

CruzControl -- possibly. But implying that success in a two-week tournament will mean success in a 6 month-long MLB season is silly. Besides the obvious wear-and-tear that over 30 starts against MLB talent will pose, there is the fact that MLB hitters -- especially those in his division -- will face Darvish many times over the course of a season. So they will adjust to his style.

Signing Darvish is risky. Price Fielder would have been a better choice for the Rangers. The Rangers main competition in the AL West is the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels decided to go on a spending spree to try and overtake the Rangers next summer, but no matter who the Angels threw in their rotation, they would still have to face a lineup without Prince Fielder. Adding a great power hitter like Fielder would make the Rangers lineup even scarier. Pitchers would find themselves in a situation where they would be facing Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Prince Fielder in the same inning. That would be enough to even give AL East rotations nightmares. The Rangers aleady have most underated starting pitchers that posted 3.45ERA (3rd best in the AL).

Rather than signing Darvish, Rangers could've move their hard throwing closer Neftali Feliz into the starting rotation. Rangers already signed Joe Nathan as a closer. Feliz's minor league numbers may indicate that the Rangers may have a new ace on their hands. Feliz went 10-6 record as a full-time starter in the Rangers organization couple years ago. Feliz had 150+ strikeouts in 127 innings pitched tells you jthat Feliz should have little difficulty becoming an effective starter in the major leagues.

First thing on TV this morning, "60 million bucks for six years is too cheap." Gimme a break! For having never thrown a pitch in the Majors or finished a full season? For a rookie?!

For once I would love to see one of these athletes from Japan do the right thing and say, "Pay me what you would pay a similar rook. After I prove myself, then we'll start talking the big bucks."

Kaneko a better year than Darvish ??Sit down before you fall down....sorry,rather have Darvish than Tanaka or Maeda !!

It's going to be sickening seeing all the instant just-add-water (AKA a Japanese player) Rangers 'fans' during the baseball season. Can't wait for the Yankees to stick it to him.

Waste of money. Don't they have too many pitchers as it is?

Darvish was the last and the best of the remaining talent in Japan..the Pacific League has had the bones picked from it,so much so that my side Orix should start faves for the pennant this season(despite their manager !!)