Yu Darvish, Japan’s Top Pitcher, Agrees To $60 million, 6-Year Deal With 2-time AL Champ Texas

Yu Darvish really impressed the Texas Rangers with his big body, durability and his desire to play.

The two-time defending AL champions were so impressed with him that they have invested more than $111 million to acquire Japan’s best pitcher. They made a record posting bid and then used just about every single minute of a 30-day negotiating window to reach an agreement on Wednesday with Darvish for a $60 million, six-year contract.

“The thing that stood out most is just his passion for the game and trying to be the best that he can possibly be,” said Nolan Ryan, Rangers President and a Hall of Fame pitcher. “He’s probably the most upside player that I’ve ever seen come out of Japan.”

Darvish had a record of 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA in 167 games for the past seven seasons in Japan. The 25-year-old right-hander, who stands 6-foot-5, he was already a two-time MVP of Japan’s Pacific League and an All Star five-times. He led the Japan league in strikeouts three different times and ERA twice, and averaged 205 innings pitched over the last five seasons.

In addition to the salary, Texas will wind up paying a posting fee of $51,703,411 to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League. The last two figures in that posting amount represent the jersey numbers of Ryan (34) and Darvish (11).

When that bid was accepted on Dec. 19 by the Fighters, an exclusive window opened for Texas to negotiate a deal for Darvish that got finished only minutes before a 4 p.m. CST deadline Wednesday. If not, the pitcher would have stayed in Japan.

“He’s really thrilled to be coming here to Texas,” said Arn Tellem, one of Darvish’s agents. “This is where Darvish wanted to be, and he was hoping once the posting began that the Rangers would win the post.”

The Rangers had been scouting Darvish for more than two years, building a personal relationship that Tellem says was significant to the pitcher.

Darvish returned home two weeks ago after his first and only visit to Texas, where he met Ryan and some of his new teammates, toured the Rangers Ballpark and completed a physical.

On his website, Darvish posted a note that acknowledged his new team, which they anticipate a Friday night news conference to formally introduce him.

Darvish’s deal surpasses what Daisuke Matsuzaka received when he left Japan and signed in December 2006 with the Boston Red Sox. Dice-K got a six-year, $52 million deal with the Red Sox paying a $51.111 million posting fee that was the previous high for a Japanese player.

Matsuzaka carries a 4.25 ERAm 49-30 in 106 games (105 starts) over five seasons with Boston since his high-profile move from the Seibu Lions when he was 26. He missed pitching most of last season after right elbow surgery and he is going into the final year of his contract, worth about $10 million.

In 2000 when Ichiro Suzuki used the posting system to get to the majors, the Seattle Mariners won the right negotiate for him with a bid of about $13 million, then signed the outfielder to a three-year, $14 million contract.

Darvish, who turned pro at age 18, pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was also a member of the Japanese team that won the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

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