Yu Darvish

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.

Odds and Ends: Gammons, Kawakami, Buck

By Tim Dierkes | December 1, 2008 at 2:45pm CDT

Links for Monday…

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik admitted to have a conversation with Ken Griffey Jr.’s agent, but wouldn’t reveal anything else.
One of Matthew Cerrone’s readers dug up a Primera Hora article saying the Mets have been scouting free agent reliever Fernando Cabrera.
Bob Klapisch looks at Pedro Martinez’s four-year, $53MM deal and asks: was it worth it?
Rays Index notes that Grant Balfour will use WBC participation as a bargaining chip in contract negotiations (he’s eligible for arbitration).
Marc Hulet of Baseball Analysts looks at top hitters for the Rule 5 draft.
Fire Brand of the American League did a Q&A with ESPN’s Peter Gammons. Some good stuff in there.
A few notes from Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker. The Hanshin Tigers are reportedly considering offering $20MM over four years to Kenshin Kawakami, while Yu Darvish had his contract renewed at $2.7MM for next year.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets want to add one starter and push Jonathan Niese to the #5 spot.
Rany Jazayerli notes that a John Buck trade would make sense for the Royals.
I mentioned the Royals’ signing of J.R. House earlier, but should add that they also signed Franquelis Osoria and Matt Tupman to minor league deals.

Darvish Wants 200 Wins In Japan

By Steve Adams | November 23, 2008 at 4:43pm CDT

Don’t look for Yu Darvish to be pitching in America any time soon. Patrick at NPB Tracker speculates that Darvish might actually be thankful for Junichi Tazawa taking some of the MLB spotlight and speculation off of him.

Darvish told a crowd of over 43,000 fans that he "isn’t dreaming of Major League Baseball," and wants to win 200 games in his Japanese career. He’s got a ways to go, but he’s about 25% of the way there with 48 career NPB wins.

Darvish, 22, has posted a 31-9 record with a 1.85 ERA and 418 Ks through 408.1 IP in the past two seasons. He also said he would accept an invitation to play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

Odds and Ends: Lee, Rogers, Beltre, Darvish

By Tim Dierkes | September 17, 2008 at 1:27pm CDT

Today’s random linkage…

The Indians signed 21 year-old pitcher Chen-Chang Lee out of Taiwan. Anthony Castrovince has the scouting report. East Windup Chronicle says the bonus is in the $350-400K range.
Kenny Rogers suggested Jim Leyland remove him from the rotation. Rogers still thinks he can pitch effectively next year at 44, however.
Geoff Baker notes an extra benefit to delaying Adrian Beltre’s surgery – the playing time could nudge him toward Type A status when he reaches free agency after the ’09 season.
Ken Davidoff of Newsday says Yu Darvish will probably not be posted this winter but could be after the ’09 season. Davidoff says the Giants, Orioles, and D’Backs have been heavily scouting Japan this year.
The Cubs are looking at contract extensions for Lou Piniella and Jim Hendry, according to Gordon Wittenmeyer.

Tazawa Ignites Controversy

By Tim Dierkes | September 15, 2008 at 9:19am CDT

Japanese amateur pitcher Junichi Tazawa is shaking things up – last week he asked the 12 Nippon Professional Baseball teams not to draft him. He wants to join an MLB team instead. His decision, coupled with interest from multiple MLB teams, is putting a major strain on MLB-NPB relations.

Peter Abraham of The Journal News had an informative article on the Tazawa situation yesterday. He says Tazawa’s decision is testing an informal agreement that MLB will not sign Japanese prospects. Abraham says the Red Sox, Mets, Braves, and Dodgers have scouted Tazawa. The Tigers, Pirates, Cubs, and Mariners may also be in the mix. The Red Sox are said to be in the lead. There’s no posting free for an unsigned player, though Tazawa may want a big league deal.

The Yankees will pass – GM Brian Cashman told Abraham he will honor the gentleman’s agreement between the two leagues. When the Yanks sent Gene Michael to Japan last week, it was apparently to scout Yu Darvish. Darvish’s availability this winter will hinge on the whims of the Nippon Ham Fighters. No one knows whether the Fighters will cash the 22 year-old in now for a possible $60-80MM posting fee.

NPB directors convened to discuss the Tazawa situation last week, and they’re sending a delegation to the U.S. to meet with MLB. Abraham suggests NPB could strike back if Bud Selig doesn’t step in to stop the pursuit of Japanese players before they are drafted. Abraham speculates Japan could pull out of the World Baseball Classic or even sign an American amateur player as retaliation. Or, as Patrick Newman suggested to me recently, a team like Softbank could jump in and sign Pedro Alvarez or Aaron Crow.

Yankees Send Michael To Japan

By Cork Gaines | September 8, 2008 at 9:20am CDT

Mark Feinsand is reporting that the Yankees have sent Gene Michael to Japan to scout potential acquisitions for ’09.

That Michael was sent to Japan for the first time signifies a shift for the Yankees, who have relied on their Pacific scouts for several years. Following the disastrous signing of Kei Igawa, however, the Yankees aren’t taking any chances, sending one of their most trusted talent evaluators to look at potential acquisitions.

Feinsand notes that it is unclear which players the Yankees are interested in, but does list several players that could be available including right-handers Koji Uehara, Kenshin Kawakami and lefty Hitoki Iwase, a reliever.

Feinsand does not mention the biggest potential prize, Yu Darvish. Previously the Yankees were listed as one of the teams with a scout at the Olympics to watch Darvish. While nobody is certain that Darvish will be posted this winter, if rumors of a $75MM posting fee are even close to accurate, the Yankees will have to be involved.

In July we looked at some potential free agents from Japan and last winter East Windup Chronicle ranked several Japanese pitchers, none of whom have yet to make the jump to the US.

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

Odds and Ends: Ibanez, Dunn, Blake, Stewart

By Tim Dierkes | August 12, 2008 at 9:53am CDT

Let’s kick off the morning with some random links.

Live chat here today at 2pm CST.
Brian Matusz is hopeful about striking a deal with the Orioles by Friday’s deadline. Roch Kubatko has a source saying it’s likely.
Baseball America’s Jim Callis warns us not to listen to the posturing – he still expects all the first-round draft picks to sign with the possible exception of Allan Dykstra.
Should the Mariners offer Raul Ibanez a three-year deal at $10-11MM per?
No word yet on possible Rays acquisitions in wake of the Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria injuries. Marc Lancaster wonders if Kenny Lofton or…don’t say it…Barry Bonds would make sense.
The Mets had no interest in Adam Dunn. They wonder about his passion, according to Joel Sherman. Did you know he doesn’t like baseball?
The Phillies were more interested in Casey Blake than Manny Ramirez.
Athletics Nation looks at some free agent options for ’09.
Shannon Stewart didn’t understand his latest Blue Jay Experience.
The Yankees, Mets, Angels, and Padres have scouts at the Olympics to watch Hitoki Iwase, Koji Uehara, Kenshin Kawakami, Yu Darvish, and Kyuji Fujikawa.

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