Darvish

I feel obligated to talk about the recent news that the Texas Rangers have won the right to negotiate with Yu Darvish. Darvish a standout 25 year old pitcher from Japan is now in all likelihood going to be a part of the Rangers opening day roster for 2012 and has a real shot at being the starter for that first game. The Rangers submitted a $51.7 million bid just to negotiate with him. The last big name pitcher to come over from Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka, had mixed results with the Boston Red Sox, definitely some success, but overall was inconsistent and had his struggles staying healthy (he’s on the shelf recovering from Tommy John surgery at the moment). I find Darvish to be similar in some ways, but definitely different in others. Both Matsuzaka and Darvish have a vast repitour of pitches, and both were super successful in Japan. I think that Darvish will be better than Matsuzaka in regards to pure “stuff,” but the thing that will make or break him is how he handles the new environment. MLB hitters are the best in the world and Darvish will no doubt have less success than he did in Japan. I only question Darvish’s mental makeup because I really don’t know a lot about it. Matsuzaka didn’t seem to have the killer instinct to win and consistently be dominant. He seemed to get rattled easily, so he would be dominant, but when things didn’t go his way, things unraveled quickly. I think both guys are #2 starters on a good team, not ace quality but could be close. I like Darvish to be more successful than Matsuzaka, but I don’t expect him to be the answer for the Rangers to win the World Series. I would have liked their chances better with Wilson staying, but I think this definitely helps replacing their ace. The market is thinning so other than Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt there really isn’t a top of the rotation guy to sign. Gio Gonzalez was an option through trade, and possibly may be still, although now a LOT less likely. They had some options and chose the Darvish route; I think it may prove to be the best option they have at this very moment. The negotiations should prove to be interesting and take up a lot of baseball news until it’s done.