Darvish to Rangers

The Texas Rangers organization got an early Christmas present today getting full rights to sign Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.

It was announced today that the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japan Pacific League acceptd the offer from the Rangers.

Darvish had a tremendous year last year going 18-6 posting a 1.44 ERA with 276 strikeouts.

Darvish is 6 foot 5 and is said to have a seven-pitch arsenal with incredible command.

Darvish has a career record of 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA in Japan and should help upgrade an already solid Rangers rotation.

The sensational pitcher won the Eiji Sawamura Award for being the best pitcher in Japanese professional baseball after winning 15 games and posting a 1.82 ERA.

The Japanese sensation will join a deep rotation including Derek Holland, Alexi Ogando, Matt Harrison, Naftali Feliz, and Colby Lewis.

Those pitches combined for 57 wins and 32 losses with Feliz notching 32 saves with 2 more wins as the Rangers closer. 

Naftali Feliz will most likely become the set-up guy for newly signed Heath Bell from the San Diego Padres. 

The Rangers recently lost aces Cliff Lee to the Phillies and C.J. Wilson to free agency adding some concern over the remaing rotation.

Wilson had a fantastic year going 16 - 7 posting a 2.94 ERA before leaving to the Angles for a big pay day. 

On the positive side, the Texas Rangers are one of the most productive offensive teams in the big leagues. 

Guys like Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler would make any major league pitchers mouth water.

The Rangers have reportedly payed over $51 million for the rights to sign Darvish to a MLB contract.

The Texas Rangers payed more than the  Red Sox offered Daisuke Matsuzaka for his rights.

The deal between Yu Darvish and the Rangers must happen within 30 days or he goes back to playing in Japan for the remainder of the season.

It appears the Rangers are trying to keep pace with the over spending LA Angles who signed Albert Pulos and CJ Wilson through free agency.

The newer ownership group headed by Nolan Ryan is excited to win a championship and hope adding Darvish is the missing link they need.

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