Yu Darvish

Odds & Ends: Sheffield, Matsui, Darvish

By Tim Dierkes | December 9, 2009 at 11:42am CDT

Kicking off a fresh Odds & Ends post for Day 3 of the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis…

NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman says reliever Ryota Igarashi received a one-year big league offer from an unknown team.
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says Justin Duchscherer would like to pitch for the D'Backs, but a deal is not likely. He also notes that the D'Backs denied offering Chris Snyder to the Rangers for C.J. Wilson.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe learned that Gary Sheffield has four suitors currently, the Red Sox not among them.
John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle names the A's as a "possible suitor" for Hideki Matsui, which ESPN's Keith Law thinks would be pointless.
Wezen-Ball gives us the history of the highest-paid player in baseball, from Nolan Ryan onward.
Yu Darvish became the youngest player in Japanese baseball history (he's 23) to reach 300 million yen when he re-signed for 330 million, reports Kyodo News. That comes to about $3.75MM currently.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff notes that Rudy Seanez wants to pitch next year.
ESPN's Mike Salk says the Mariners "specifically chose" Jack Wilson over J.J. Hardy.

Heyman On Matsui, Bradley, Dye, Chapman

By Zachary Links | September 28, 2009 at 1:30pm CDT

Hideki Matsui is in the final year of a four-year, $52MM extension he signed with the Yankees following the 2005 campaign. At the age of 35, Matsui turned in one of his best seasons in the majors, posting .280/.373/.521 and 28 HRs. However, it doesn't appear that Hideki Matsui is a capable fielder at this stage of his career after all the injuries he has been through. Having not taken the field once all season, Matsui is strictly an American League player. As Tim Dierkes pointed out last week, if Matsui looks to sign elsewhere, he will find himself vying for 8 or less DH openings with 11 or so others.

SI.com's Jon Heyman touches on that situation and much more in today's offering. Here's a look at some of his rumors:

Those close to Matsui say his first choice is to stay with the Yanks. However, the Yankees may have to let him walk as the DH spot will be needed for Jorge Posada and others.
Heyman mentions Ken Rosenthal's report that John Farrell will not be able to take a managerial job in 2010 because of a clause in his contract with the BoSox. Heyman then adds, "Sometimes those clauses can be negotiated away."
The Padres are one of the "rare" teams that have a level of interest in Milton Bradley. Sources indicate that it is a "long shot" that he will wind up in Texas.
Heyman addresses some of the lesser-heralded free agents in the upcoming class and estimates how much they will receive in their new deals. Here are his guesses: Mark DeRosa, $24MM over three years; Nick Johnson, $16MM over two years; Adam LaRoche, $25MM over three years; Joel Pineiro, $15MM over two years.
The White Sox will not pick up Jermaine Dye's $12MM option in all likelihood. This should come as no surprise considering the 35-year-old's dismal second half. Since August 1st, Dye has registered an OPS of .576.
One GM told Heyman that he holds Stephen Strasburg and Yu Darvish in higher regard than highly-touted Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman.

Chapman, Darvish And Strasburg

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 17, 2009 at 1:58pm CDT

Aroldis Chapman, Yu Darvish and Stephen Strasburg "represent the best pitching talent in the world that is not yet in the major leagues," so ESPN.com's Keith Law grades the trio of pitchers. Here's his take on each one:

Aroldis Chapman is a 21-year-old lefty who just defected from Cuba. He relies on a fastball that touches 100 mph and has the makings of a good slider. That combination could make him a top reliever and better secondary stuff could help him realize his ceiling and become a top starter.
Yu Darvish is a 22-year-old righty who pitches in the NPB and has said he doesn't think about pitching in the States. He relies mostly on a low-90s fastball and a slider, but has other pitches. Right now, Law says Darvish could do better in the majors than the other two pitchers because of his deeper repertoire and experience against top competition.
When the Nats selected Stephen Strasburg first overall in last month's draft, they got a pitcher who can touch 100 mph and throws a power curve. Law suspects that minor leaguers won't hit the 20-year-old righty, so he may have to learn in the majors. Of the three pitchers, Law says Strasburg is the best long-term choice to become an elite starter.

Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Strasburg, Halladay

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | July 8, 2009 at 1:49pm CDT

Links for Wednesday afternoon…

WEEI.com's Alex Speier reports that the Red Sox signed two international players named Alcantara to six-figure bonuses, but they are unrelated and neither one is related to former Red Sox player Izzy Alcantara. Mario Alcantara and Raul Alcantara are both right-handed pitchers.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the Red Sox signed Johns Hopkins graduate Chez Angeloni as a free agent.
Keith Law tells Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker that Stephen Strasburg has more upside than Yu Darvish, though Darvish has faced better competition.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe asks Red Sox fans to slow down on the Roy Halladay talk, because Theo Epstein has given no indication that the Red Sox are interested.
Jorge Says No! suggests the Jays should ask teams to take on a bad contract in any Halladay deal. They have a few overpaid players to choose from, especially Vernon Wells and B.J. Ryan.
I'll be on ESPN Radio in Madison at 3:40 CST talking trades on The Big 1070. Also, check out my chat with the Benchwarmers on 590 KFNS from last night.

Odds And Ends: Gonzalez, Pirates, Batista

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 29, 2009 at 12:48pm CDT

Yankees Scouting Yu Darvish

By | May 9, 2009 at 2:31pm CDT

According to Japan's Sports Hochi, via Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, the Yankees had three scouts on hand to watch Yu Darvish pitch Friday night. Darvish didn't dominate, but he held the opposition to one earned run on four hits and fanned four batters.

We've covered Darvish at length here at MLBTR. He won't be a free agent until 2014, but he's only 22 and already has multiple major league teams tracking his progress.

Odds & Ends: Bonifacio, Jimenez, Darvish

By Tim Dierkes | April 17, 2009 at 1:32pm CDT

Links for Friday…

Royals third baseman Alex Gordon is out 10-12 weeks due to hip surgery. Mark Teahen will slide over to take his place.
Ken Rosenthal examines the Indians.
I did a Q&A with But The Game Is On.
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post gets into the Emilio Bonifacio trade.
ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. writes about how the Yankees' signing of D'Angelo Jimenez changed everything.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker has a Yu Darvish velocity chart.
The Big Lead talked to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Paul DePodesta explains the Padres' decision to expose Travis Denker to waivers.

Yu Darvish Reactions

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 14, 2009 at 9:56am CDT

Over at NPB Tracker Patrick Newman passes on some reactions to Yu Darvish, who pitched in Japan’s exhibition game against the Cubs yesterday. Twenty scouts from at least 10 teams were there to watch Darvish throw as hard as 96. He won’t be a free agent until 2014 at the earliest.

John Cox, who scouts the Far East for the Giants likes what he’s seen from the 22-year-old, saying "if he’s interested in the majors we’ll think about aquiring him." Alfonso Soriano was also impressed by Darvish’s stuff and Carlos Zambrano thinks he has "an aura on the mound."

Odds & Ends: Darvish, Rockies, Angels, Nats

By Tim Dierkes | March 13, 2009 at 5:19pm CDT

WBC May Be Showcase For Future Major Leaguers

By Cork Gaines | March 5, 2009 at 7:36pm CDT

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune notes that the ’06 World Baseball Classic was the coming out party for Kosuke Fukudome and Alexei Ramirez, and gives us a list of players that could be playing for big league contracts in this year’s WBC.

Rogers lists Yu Darvish (Japan), Hyun-jin Ryu and Suk Min Yoon (Korea) along with Albertin Chapman, Yuniesky Maya and Yuliesky Gourriel (Cuba) as the players that could be playing for future millions.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

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