Bid deadline nears for Japanese ace Darvish

Major League Baseball clubs have until Wednesday to submit bids for negotiating rights to Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, who could surpass the record payout spent for Daisuke Matsuzaka five years ago. The 25-year-old right-hander was posted by the Japan League's Nippon Ham Fighters and one lucky winner among North American bidders will have 30 days to negotiate a contract deal with Darvish. Darvish, who joined the Fighters in 2005 after high school, was born to an Iranian father and a Japanese mother. He was this season's highest-paid player in Japanese baseball at an estimated 500 million yen ($6.4 million) a season. Darvish went 18-6 last season for the Hokkaido-based Fighters with a 1.44 earned-run average and 276 strikeouts in 232 innings. At 6-foot-5 (196cm) and 216 pounds (98kg), his size and skill figures to be baffling for US batters. The Texas Rangers, losers in each of the past two World Series, have shown great interest in Darvish and need pitching help after losing southpaw starter C.J. Wilson to the Los Angeles Angels in a major free agency deal last week. Expect the New York Yankees to be involved as well, with general manager Brian Cashman praising Darvish's skills, notably on display against major league talent in Japan's second World Baseball Classic victory in 2009. "He is extremely talented but in terms of how it transitions, it's hard to say," Cashman said. The last time a Japanese pitching prospect created so much excitement among US clubs was in 2006 when the Boston Red Sox went after Matsuzaka, spending $51.1 million for negotiating rights and $52 million on a six-year contract. Matsuzaka helped the Red Sox win the 2007 World Series, their second crown in four seasons after a drought since 1918. The US market for Japanese talent has been slow recently, with the New York Yankees spending only $2 million to speak to Japan all-star shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima and Yokohama relief pitcher Hiroki Sanada lured no bidders last week.