75 million to negotiate?

[blacksilverfan12]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/etick...y?page=darvish
75 million dollars for a team to negotiate with Yu Darvish. Why would a team pay that much just to talk to him?

[steve rogers]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/etick...y?page=darvish
75 million dollars for a team to negotiate with Yu Darvish. Why would a team pay that much just to talk to him?

If they think he's good enough to help them win. If the Yankees don't make the playoffs this year a $100 million bid to just negotiate wouldn't surprise me at all.

Scott

[brewcrew82]

When the Red Sox paid $50 million to negotiate with Matsuzaka many thought that was excessive. For a younger, hotter prospect of course the posting fee will be higher.

I'm not surprised to hear this, though I think it's excessive (even $50 million is excessive, in my eyes).

[SamtheBravesFan]

Looks like Nippon Ham is wanting to cash in just like Seibu did with Matsuzaka. Only this time, Darvish is a lot younger. He certainly has great stuff (0.83 WHIP, 1.82 ERA, .174 OBA, 210 K in 2007, they all led the Pacific League). It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Zagi-CRO]

Too much for Yu.

[Mattingly]

Just when I thought it was Toyotas, Nikon and Canon cameras or Sony TVs that were the imports which would best stimulate the Japanese economy, it's now turned into young pitchers. Very interesting.

What reassurances do any of us have that this kid's the real deal?

Nice video, great curveball, very good commentary by Bobby Valentine (who wants the young guy to stay there), but $75m? I'm guessing it would be great to see it happen, but on the other hand, would Japanese players then not look as fondly upon their own nation's game if they'd wanted to play in the USA again? Would their own country's national pasttime be sold short if he became an MLB player?

I've also never heard of being posted at age 21. I guess that once you draft them, you can send to the highest bidder? That's quite a few t-shirts, jerseys, endless memorabilia and photos to be sold in order to get back $100m. We'd all have to stay tuned to see if it's even worth it. We'll see.

Too much for Yu.

Hmmmmmmmmm, someone told me there was always one smarty aleck in every bunch. I should've believed 'em!

Now then, is this too much money for all of us to afford, or just too much for Yu? Somehow, my calculator doesn't ring up that many zeros to understand such a humongous payday for the team parting with his services.

It's either pay through the nose or hope that someone trades Webb, Santana, Beckett or ... trade for a good pitcher who can be improved upon. Excessive money or lots of patience. Not ideal either way. Whatever.

[Zagi-CRO]

OK, $75Mill is nearly 47 mill EUR... the best football player in Europe Christiano Ronaldo /ManUTD/ costs about 50 mill EUR...

I say again... too much for Yu...
Is he /Yu/ better then Zito... ha,ha...

[SamtheBravesFan]

OK, $75Mill is nearly 47 mill EUR... the best football player in Europe Christiano Ronaldo /ManUTD/ costs about 50 mill EUR...

I say again... too much for Yu...
Is he /Yu/ better then Zito... ha,ha...

He already should be. Because Darvish is just 21 years old, he should be viewed as a VERY legit prospect.

As for the money, it's well within Nippon Ham's rights under the posting system to ask for that much money, because they know that at least one team in Major League Baseball can and will pay that. I've said before that they want to cash in, just like Seibu did, and they can. Quite frankly, I think that someone will pay this.

Oh, and by the way, 75 million dollars is, very loosely, 7.9 billion yen.

[brewcrew82]

Would their own country's national pasttime be sold short if he became an MLB player?

Whilst Baseball is probably the most popular sport in Japan it is not their national pasttime. That would be Sumo.

[Mattingly]

Whilst Baseball is probably the most popular sport in Japan it is not their national pasttime. That would be Sumo.

Yeah, but can those sumo guys pitch? I think I have an early pic of Yu next to one of those guys (merely for comparison purposes, anyway):



So sumo is their main sport. We should introduce monster trucks or NASCAR over there and see what they think of their automotive industry!

Back to the main issue, what would happen to the Nippon Baseball League if teams just kept shipping over their top young lions over to the highest bidder? They'd make tons of money, but would their own system suffer? That's what I'm asking.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Back to the main issue, what would happen to the Nippon Baseball League if teams just kept shipping over their top young lions over to the highest bidder? They'd make tons of money, but would their own system suffer? That's what I'm asking.

I think that if it really was a problem, they wouldn't be doing this. After all, Major League Baseball teams don't have to pay this money.

[cardsfanatic]

I guess there's worse things you could spend 75 million dollars on. Mo Vaughn?

[SamtheBravesFan]

I guess there's worse things you could spend 75 million dollars on. Mo Vaughn?

Don't forget, that money would be on top of whatever kind of contract that he gets.

[Mattingly]

Don't forget, that money would be on top of whatever kind of contract that he gets.

Plus the posting fee is tax-deductible & won't count towards payroll.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Plus the posting fee is tax-deductible & won't count towards payroll.

No kidding. Well, whoever can afford it will jump all over it to sign Darvish. I would think that if he's dominating the Pacific League at that age, he could make a very easy transition to Major League Baseball.