Yu Darvish Goes to Texas

**401don** · December-20-11, 10:08 AM

Don't know how many of you are following this but Texas has won the Darvish sweepstakes with a posting fee reportedly around 52 million. They now have 30 days to sign him, probably to around 60-75 million for 5 years. This means it will cost Texas as much as 25 million a year for a guy who has not pitched one game in the majors. I know the guy has been great in Japan but if he's signed, it will be the dumbest move I've ever seen. How can you justify paying more for this guy than Verlander or Halliday?

Ravine · December-25-11, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by 401don

Don't know how many of you are following this but Texas has won the Darvish sweepstakes with a posting fee reportedly around 52 million. They now have 30 days to sign him, probably to around 60-75 million for 5 years. This means it will cost Texas as much as 25 million a year for a guy who has not pitched one game in the majors. I know the guy has been great in Japan but if he's signed, it will be the dumbest move I've ever seen. How can you justify paying more for this guy than Verlander or Halliday?

You can't justify it. It is exactly as you described it: "the dumbest move I've ever seen."

Yu Darvish may turn out to be a Japanese Sandy Koufax; if he does so, he will justify the move, but that will be hindsight.
As it stands now-- with, as you pointed out, the guy having never recorded a single Out in a MLB game-- it is a stupid, stupid move that deserves the ridicule & scorn implied in your comments.

**Roq** · December-26-11, 04:27 AM

Originally Posted by Ravine

As it stands now-- with, as you pointed out, the guy having never recorded a single Out in a MLB game-- it is a stupid, stupid move that deserves the ridicule & scorn implied in your comments.

I will laugh my ass off if he turns out to be a dud. I hate the Rangers.

**Thruster315** · December-27-11, 04:52 AM

Originally Posted by Roq

I will laugh my ass off if he turns out to be a dud. I hate the Rangers.

I too will laugh my ass off at the Rangers for this boneheaded move but will also grieve for the whole of baseball where it still doesn't have a salary cap. It's deep pocketed teams like this, the Yankees, the Red Sox, and even to a certain degree- the Tigers [[although they're tier two comparatively) that will always snare the top talent. What chance does a small market team like the Brewers stand to re-sign their draft pick Prince Fielder? Pujols jumped for crazy amounts of money too. The rich get richer and there are no consequences. The poorer teams hardly stand a chance. Way to screw over competition, Major League Baseball.

**Roq** · December-27-11, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Thruster315

Way to screw over competition, Major League Baseball.

I wonder if MLB is going to let this continue unchecked or will the recent signings of Pujols and Reyes force their hand? I get why players jump ship [[there seems to be little to no loyalty left other than to their agents) but I do not understand why MLB has not implemented one yet. I would think it would be to their benefit as well?

Ravine · December-27-11, 02:51 PM

The Brewers are, indeed, in the middle of the team-salary pack, but it doesn't exactly come down to not "standing a chance" to hang onto their stars.

In April, the Brewers, who already had Ryan Braun, the National League's Most Valuable Player of 2011, locked into an 8yr/$45mil contract through 2015, extended that pact with a deal that covers 2016-2020 at a rate which averages out to $21mil per year.
In 2009, they jumped all over free agent Zack Greinke, who had just recorded a brilliant season with the KC Royals, and have one year remaining on a 4yr/$38mil deal.
Prior to that same season, they had to have free agent Closer Frankie Rodriguez, and invested $37mil in a 3 year contract.
These are the same Brewers who, in one of the most stupiderest moves of the past 20 years, mistook free agent pitcher Jeff Suppan for being a genuinely worthwhile major league Starting Pitcher and signed him to a 4yr/$42mil deal that ran through the 2010 season; in June of that season, they finally figured out what most of us knew in 2007, and released the hapless & hopless Brewer, choosing to bite down harder than he could throw and swallow the $10mil remaining on that gruesomely misbegotten contract.

So, be thriftier with sympathy than the Brewers have been with money.
Truly, though, while being "middle of the pack" hasn't held them back from competing for high-priced free agents, I would say that the truth is that the "middle of the pack" teams feel as though they must make choices, choices about which a team such as the Yankees don't fret.
In this case, I think they looked at Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun and thought, "We're not going to be able to hang onto both of these guys," and chose to make the move on keeping Braun.