Rangers Whirl With Darvish

Take that, Angels.

A Texas Ranger always gets his man. It just so happens in this instance it is not a law breaker, but a pitcher. The Rangers won the high-priced, high-stakes sweepstakes for the right to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. The American League representatives in the World Series the last two years running did not want to concede their spot to the free-spending Angels at the top of the AL West, either.

The Angels opened their treasure chest to sign Albert Pujols away from the Cardinals, and (insult upon injury) C.J. Wilson away from the Rangers and Texas did not just sit still and take these slaps across the face. They escalated the confrontation by putting up about $51.7 million so the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters would be agreeable to them talking contract with Darvish.

After many years as a have-n0t, clearly the Rangers enjoy being one of the haves of baseball and they don’t want to relinquish their position without a fight. For the amount of money Darvish will command–many more millions for sure–the Rangers expect him to replace and perhaps improve upon Wilson. The difference is that Wilson, who said he signed with the Angels for less money than Texas was willing to pay because he wanted to go home, is a known quantity. While Darvish has looked impressive in Japan he is still a vague quantity for the majors.

Wilson finished 16-7 with a 2.94 earned run average for the Rangers in their 2011 pennant-winning campaign and that type of reliability in the rotation needs to be replaced. The Rangers hope that Darvish, who is the son of an Iranian father and a Japanese mother, will be the second coming of Ichiro when it comes to transplanted stardom.

The right-handed throwing Darvish seems to have the goods to make the same type of splash Suzuki did when he joined the Seattle Mariners. Darvish is 6-foot-5, so he has the presence of an American pitcher off the farm. He is only 25, so presumably his best years lie ahead. And with a 93-38 record  and a career 1.99 ERA, Darvish has apparently served the type of apprenticeship that should bring him fully formed to the majors. Last season Darvish went 18-6 with a 1.44 earned run average and 276 strikeouts.

If the Rangers offer a long enough deal and sufficient enough dollars to woo Darvish from Japan during their 30-day negotiating window, Japanese hitters will probably throw a party. Staying at home and being only 25 means he would only dominate more in Japan, to the extent you would need a microscope to read his earned run average.

The crazy thing about seeking Japanese talent is the amount of money it takes just to begin talks with a player. More than $51 million? Plus another, what, $70 million or more for the contract? Lately the Rangers have been spending like the Yankees and Red Sox and that’s a lot of coin. Adding Darvish just might put Texas at its budget limit and might take them out of the Prince Fielder bidding.

But adding Darvish, plus Fielder, the big bat they could use? Now that would be looking the Angels in the eye and not blinking. Angels get Pujols and Wilson, Rangers get Darvish and Fielder. Maybe Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are secret investors in these teams. It sure would set up as a heck of a pennant race.