According to the NPB Tracker.com the Yankees had 3 scouts watching Yu Darvish’s latest appearance for the Nippon Ham Fighters.
http://www.npbtracker.com/2009/05/ya…rvish/#content
2007 Age 20: 15-5, 1.83 era, 12CG, 207.2 ip, 123 hits, 210 k’s, 49 walks
2008 Age 21: 16-4, 1.88 era, 10CG, 200.2 ip, 136 hits, 208 k’s, 44 walks
2009 Age 22: 4-1, 1.08 era, 2CG, 50 ip, 27 hits, 44 k’s, 11 walks
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/etick…y?page=darvish
“I think his numbers in Japan are going to be equally as phenomenal as he continues to move on, barring injury, as Dice-K’s were in Japan,” Hillman says. “He’s got a different type of frame. Dice-K’s got a more powerful frame, but Darvish has looser levers and a taller frame with more whip, and I think that gives him an opportunity to have more powerful and more electric secondary pitches as well as a fastball.”The curveball is just not fair. Honestly, it’s just not a fair pitch.”
They usually don’t do so until the penultimate year of the player’s enforced servitude, but Nippon Ham general manager Masao Yamada was quoted this spring saying that if a player requested to be posted earlier, his team would pretty much have to abide by his wishes. “We will admit a transfer, if it is allowed by the system,” he said. “We won’t chain our players. Actually, we want to train players like the majors are looking for and [see them] perform well over there. That’s kind of our goal.”
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu…yhoo&type=lgns
The conversation turns to his future and Major League Baseball’s place in it. Any general manager with a pulse covets Darvish. Last season, most of which he pitched as a 20-year old, he went 15-5 with a 1.82 earned-run average and 12 complete games. His fastball hits 97 mph, his slider 91, and he throws a curveball, changeup and sinker. With Darvish, it’s a matter of when he asks the Fighters to post him for auction to the highest major-league bidder.
Certainly there are benefits for Nippon Ham. One American League executive guessed if Darvish posted after this season the fee to negotiate a deal would cost “around $75 million.” Another suggested “it could be even higher.” If the Red Sox paid $51 million for a 26-year-old Matsuzaka, a 22-year-old Darvish could command a 50 percent premium.“Right now,” Valentine says, “his stuff is probably sharper than Daisuke’s.”The praise only begins there. Terrmel Sledge, the former Padres outfielder who joined the Fighters this offseason, calls Darvish “one of the five best I’ve ever seen.” Hillman believes Darvish would step in as the No. 1 starter on a majority of major league teams. Kojima thinks Darvish might be the best pitcher in Japanese history.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer…jim&id=3544715
“He’s a great pitcher,” Davey Johnson said. “He threw the ball good and hit his spots. It was like throwing on the side for him, so he’ll probably be ready to pitch Friday or Saturday.”
“He threw all hard pitches, hitting the low 90s with a good change of speeds and a hard slider,” second baseman Brian Barden said. “If he had to go two or three times through the lineup, it might be a different story.”
He is probably one of the 5 best pitchers in the world, and with a 5 year deal… you would have him during the ages of 23-28 where he only figures to be getting better and reaching his prime.
By the end of a 5 year contract, and even with another 1000 professional innings pitched… he will still have less professional innings pitched then Sabathia will have by the end of 2009.
If you had bid on Sabathia and Burnett this past off-season, you would have been paying for past performance… with Darvish, you are paying for the future.
I would bid up to $60M, and I would give him a $60M contract… basically the $120M offered to Tex.
A ton of money, no doubt about it… and certainly a risk… but I love the idea of having him during the ages of 23 through 28… and I think the financial cost would be worth it… to further introduce Baltimore and the Orioles to Asia… and add the difference making talent you would be obtaining.
You want to say the cost is too much… ok.. I don’t agree, but there is a logical argument there…. you want to say that no pitcher deserves a deal of at least 5 years… for the most part I will agree… to say that you believe he will be a bust…
In a league probably 80 to 90% as talented as MLB he is just dominating at ages 20 to 22….. you have 3 current or former MLB managers saying his stuff is amazing, and he would be an ace on most teams…
He could be exactly that the O’s need to directly compete in 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqul1GyK7-g&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h26pk…eature=related
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.