Links for Sunday….
- Yu Darvish officially renewed his contract with the Nippon Ham Fighters this week, as NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman writes. Darvish, who may play in MLB in 2012, will earn the equivalent of about $6MM this season in Japan.
- One AL scout tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that Grant Balfour remains unsigned in part due to a dip in velocity over the last year, but adds: "He’s developed good command of his secondary pitches. He can pitch in the AL East, he’s a competitor, and if you use him as a complementary piece, he’s worth pursuing for your bullpen." I looked at some possible fits for Balfour last weekend.
- We heard yesterday that Joe Torre was talking to Bud Selig about potentially becoming MLB's next executive vice president of operations. However, Ken Davidoff of Newsday doesn't expect Torre to take such a position, and says "other people in the loop" don't either.
- Jim Margalus of South Side Sox examines how Chris Sale's role with the White Sox will be affected by Will Ohman's arrival.
Really liked Sale as a reliever, but he has a TON more potential value as a starter. His peak upside is incredibly high, though his injury risk makes him bust potential relatively high as well. I think he should be eased into the rotation to avoid hurting him in his early years, and he could develop into a successful starter. Though he does throw with the Inverted W, it is possible he could overcome/ avoid injuries (see: Adam Wainwright, John Smoltz, Chris Carpenter) to be a really good starter.
I think its also very possible he cannot handle starting, and has a very successful (if less valuable) career as a setup man/ closer.
Can’t help but be really happy for Darvish. Can’t wait ’til the 2011 NPB season! And definitely looking forward to seeing him (hopefully) make his way to the MLB in 2012. It’d be great to see him play with the best in the world and see how he ranks. It’d be a dream come true for me if he signed with the Blue Jays, but that’s highly unlikely. =(
Darvish isn’t coming to MLB for 2011 partially due to the divorce he’s going through right now — his future ex-wife would be entitled to a large portion of that big contract. I think 2012 will be the year he makes the jump. Guy’s got some skills.
Can’t wait… Can’t wait. better not flop.
if he gets posted you know the yankees and all the big markets will be all over him for his services
Just what MLB needs, “Yankee Bob Watson” with a protegee (Joe Torre) to interrupt Yankee/Sox games and make uniform checks on Terry Francona to make sure he has a actual jersey on underneath his sweatshirt while at Yankee stadium and other BS.
Way to go MLB..
I don’t think dice k is the most successful japanese player to come over here. I think my vote has to go to Kazuhiro Sazaki. Closer for the m’s
Player? Ichiro!
Please, Cubs. The market lacks impact starting pitching at a somewhat reasonable age, assuming that Wainwright’s option vests and the Cubs resign Dempster(although he’s not totally an impact pitcher).
Thought we were talking pitchers, I hate ichiro but he is the best player
He has said repeatedly that he doesn’t want to leave the NPB.
Think about what they said about Dice-k…….
In the meantime, Kenshin Kawakami is available for just $2 or $3 million and Curtis Granderson.
Unless CC opts out, which he definitely will do if he has an awesome season and the Yankees finish in 3rd.
It’s almost as if you believe that the Lee signing would’ve actually affected whether they’d go after Darvish or not…
This year: Sabathia, Lee, Hughes, Burnett, Pettite
Next year: Sabathia, Lee, Hughes, Burnett, Darvish (where Pettite can once again do his annual “should I retire” waiting game and might finally decide it’s time to hang it up)
and phil hughes improving watch out
Don’t get caught up in the hype.All the rumors about him coming here were just the beginning of an effort to increase his money demands for the future. Dice-K has been the most successful Japanese pitcher to date, and he hasn’t lived up to the expectations. His performance in the BB Classic has to taken with a bit of salt, given that he was pitching to many batters that were starting their seasons, as apposed to the Japanese players that were at their seasons end.
He most likely will though, as soon as his divorce is finalized. Posting fee will be outrageous and with Dice-K and Kawakami’s struggles, 90% of teams will likely stay away. I have the Yankees as the frontrunner, definitely. But that doesn’t mean he won’t implode with the switch to the big-leagues.
I don’t think so – Kenshin Kawakami 1 win 10 losses and a 5.15 ERA with the Braves win 2010
No kidding. Yu Darvish is anything but a sure bet to succeed at the major league level if he even decides to pursue MLB.
But you are talking like Dice K is a complete failure, according to fangraphs $ WAR value, he’s been worth $43.3 million in total output in his career with Boston so far, which is pretty good all things considered.
What’s it like not being able to recognize obvious sarcasm?
Goes for Dodgers4life, as well. And ACamp gets a pass because he didn’t flat out insult me, but you…..You better be a 12-year-old or else I’ll do some damage by reaching through my monitor and making you sterile.
Nah, that’s impossible. But really? I know we see some crazy trade ideas here, but I specifically picked Kawakami because he’s Japanese and the user above is thrilled at the possibility of the Yankees getting Darvish.
Yes, but he has hardly lived up to the hype. It seemed everyone assumed he could become an ace or at least a number 2 but he hasn’t proven that. Considering the posting fee on top of the contract he has been a let down. On a team not as financially abundant as the Red Sox that would be a big problem. He supposedly hit 100 mph on the radar gun during the Olympics but has never had that type of velocity in the bigs and that gyroball seem to be nothing but a myth.