Ken Rosenthal says that we should expect Yu Darvish to be posted after baseball’s winter meetings.
Another scout who covers Japanese baseball says that Hokkaido badly wants to collect the posting fee on Darvish — and was stunned and disappointed when he chose to return to the team last season.
Hokkaido had planned to post Darvish, the scout said, and when the pitcher chose to stay in Japan, the team had to scramble to squeeze his $4.2 million salary into its budget.
Jon Daniels made a scouting trip to Japan during the season and saw Darvish pitch in person. There has been speculation that Darvish tops the Rangers’ wish list – ahead of CJ Wilson. Daniels and his lieutenants, however, keep their plans very close to the vest. Whether the Rangers are interested or not, Darvish would become one more prime starting pitcher on the market.
To discuss the possibility of the Rangers pursuing the Japanese free agent to-be, check out Lone Star Ball.