January 01, 2008
But Can He Whirl?
Via WasWatching, the Yankees are looking at the next big posted player from Japan, Yu Darvish. His seasonal age in 2007 was 20, and he posted a 1.82 ERA while striking out 210 in 207 2/3 innings. He's already pitching to the expectations of Phil Hughes.
I'm really wondering if a Japanese team will post him that young. My daughter is headed to the home of the Fighters in Februrary, so I'll see if she can get me more information.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:45 AM
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I'll believe it when I see it (posting that young) but needless to say, someone to watch throughout the 2008 season.
The answer is obviously no, he wont show up at least until the next decade.
He isn't interested in coming to the states, according to his Wikipedia article.
He isn't interested in coming to the states, according to his Wikipedia article.
But eh, all the article Wikipedia cited, doesn't really suggest anything.
As Gary Garland says over at Japan Baseball Daily, his father says there is interest in Darvish from MLB teams. Also, Gary mentions that it's thought that Darvish will ask to be posted after this season.
Right now, the Nikkan Sports article was more PR than really offering any insight. Since we have no idea if a NPB team will make Darvish available via the posting system until they decide to. MLB doesn't tamper with the process, by asking teams to post a player.
We'll likely find out more what Darvish decides to do after the season when the Beijing Olympics are done and over with. I have my gut feeling he'll be in MLB sooner or later after he feels he has accomplished everything there is to in NPB.
Also, you got to think what the possible posting fee could net for Nippon Ham? It could easily go over $100 million, which would be very valuable to NPB teams if they use it in the right way, solely for making a better product on the field.
