[Cris]

The Texas Rangers have won the posting auction of Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish with a record $51.7M bid, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.
https://twitter.com/#!/JeffPassan/status/148977539929473024

Have fun with that Texas.

 

[Cris]

Deadline to sign yu is jan. 18 at 5 pm. One al exec says he expects "cj wilson $" to get it done. (77.5M for 5)

77.5 + 51.7 = 129.2 Million Dollars

 

[scdn]

Interesting. A lot of reports were saying the Blue Jays had the highest bid.

 

[Knick Killer]

How disappointed should I be as a Blue Jays fan that we didn't win the Yu Darvish sweepstakes?

 

[Floods]

Why would you be disappointed that you don't have to shell out $130 million for a pitcher who has no MLB experience?

 

[FSH]

How disappointed should I be as a Blue Jays fan that we didn't win the Yu Darvish sweepstakes?

You shouldnt be...As long as the Blue Jays sign Edwin Jackson

 

[Diable]

I don't understand why MLB plays this game. It is retarded for them to compete in this way, at least at these prices. The commissioner should step in and just ban the entire practice, and if we don't get to see if this guy is any good that's too bad.

 

[Bubbles]

This. It's not even close to fair to the small market teams.

 

[seifer0406]

How disappointed should I be as a Blue Jays fan that we didn't win the Yu Darvish sweepstakes?

Fairly disappointed I would say. It's not only about not getting Darvish, it's about ownership being cheap and not willing to spend to compete.

 

[FSH]

Fairly disappointed I would say. It's not only about not getting Darvish, it's about ownership being cheap and not willing to spend to compete.

yah because paying 121mil to a pitcher that has never pitched a inning in the MLB is the way to compete with the Yankees and the Red Soxs

also im willing to bet Darvish didnt want to go to Toronto

 

[Diable]

I can't think of many cases where this really worked out for anyone, not when you have to pay Roy Halliday or Cliff Lee money for some guy who never stared down a big league lineup. If you're going to spend this sort of money you should go out and get a big league pitcher, or a couple of them in fact.

 

[FSH]

I can't think of many cases where this really worked out for anyone, not when you have to pay Roy Halliday or Cliff Lee money for some guy who never stared down a big league lineup. If you're going to spend this sort of money you should go out and get a big league pitcher, or a couple of them in fact.

exactly for that 121mil they could have got CJ Wilson and Mark Buerhle...That is why im happy the Yankees only offered 20mil for the fee to just talk to him

 

[seifer0406]

yah because paying 121mil to a pitcher that has never pitched a inning in the MLB is the way to compete with the Yankees and the Red Soxs

also im willing to bet Darvish didnt want to go to Toronto

Whether Darvish is willing to go to Toronto or not is irrelevant. If he refuses to sign then the Jays wouldn't have to pay. Darvish also brings significant hype that would boost ticket sales (which the Jays desperately need) as well as Japanese advertising money.

The bottom line is front rotation pitchers are difficult to acquire. You either have to fork up the cash or pay with prospects. Look at this year's free agent class and you won't find a single legitimate #1 or #2 starting pitcher that's available. The best guy available was CJ Wilson and he's just a #3 behind Weaver and Haren.

 

[FSH]

Whether Darvish is willing to go to Toronto or not is irrelevant. If he refuses to sign then the Jays wouldn't have to pay.

They would still have to pay the 51mil and how do you know if Darvish is a front of the rotation starter? Paying 121mil for a guy you dont know what he is gonna be is dumb

Dice-K, Igawa, Arabu where all considered front of the rotation starters also

 

[King Joseus]

They would still have to pay the 51mil and how do you know if Darvish is a front of the rotation starter? Paying 121mil for a guy you dont know what he is gonna be is dumb

Dice-K, Igawa, Arabu where all considered front of the rotation starters also

Only if he signed.

 

[sMaK]

Why do you guys care how much money your team spends to talk to the guy? Its not your money

 

[FSH]

Only if he signed.

i thought it was a posting fee just to talk to him? And it doesnt matter if he signs or not

I guess it makes it a little bit better but still 121mil for a guy that never pitched in the MLB when you could get both Buerhle and Wilson for that much is just dumb

 

[King Joseus]

Posting fee is returned to the bidding team if no deal is reached.

Throwing money away is never good, but nothing's surefire. If you've got a chance at somebody that could be great, you go for it. The thought that you "could get" somebody for the same amount of money is a bit silly given of course, players' preferences in who they'd like to play for and with/where they'd like to play. Pitchers are always a dicey market anyhow. If the team can afford it, there's no reason not to gamble.

 

[FSH]

Throwing money away is never good, but nothing's surefire. If you've got a chance at somebody that could be great, you go for it. The thought that you "could get" somebody for the same amount of money is a bit silly given of course, players' preferences in who they'd like to play for and with/where they'd like to play. Pitchers are always a dicey market anyhow. If the team can afford it, there's no reason not to gamble.

Can Blue Jays really afford to spend 121mil on a chance that the guy could be great?

 

[seifer0406]

They would still have to pay the 51mil and how do you know if Darvish is a front of the rotation starter? Paying 121mil for a guy you dont know what he is gonna be is dumb

Dice-K, Igawa, Arabu where all considered front of the rotation starters also

Extensive scouting have been done on Darvish and most scouts consider him to be at least a #2. Nothing is certain but this isn't exactly a wild guess.

People want to make fun of the Dice-K signing but the fact is Boston didn't really lose that much money over him after you consider all the advertising money he brought over. He didn't exactly pan out but like I said these guys bring additional revenue to the team.

exactly for that 121mil they could have got CJ Wilson and Mark Buerhle...That is why im happy the Yankees only offered 20mil for the fee to just talk to him

This is just a dumb way to look at things. CJ Wilson had like 8 teams all offering similar or more money and he chose to go to LA. Buerhle also had multiple offers. To acquire both of them it takes much more than just 121 mil. To just ignore the uncertainty and look solely at the number figure just doesn't make sense here.