Rangers win negotiating rights to Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish

Just when it seemed like the Texas Rangers may not make a major move this offseason because of $30 million owed to former owner Chuck Greenberg, plus the addition of a new stadium scoreboard, Jon Daniels ended up playing the role of silent assassin.

The Texas general manager pulled a significant trigger on Monday night, when the Rangers won the negotiating rights to Japanese superstar pitcher Yu Darvish, putting $51.7 million on the table just to talk to the guy. They have 30 days to agree on a contract. If no contract is negotiated, Darvish would return to Japan and the Rangers wouldn't owe any money.

Most rumors and tweets I saw in the hours leading up to the announcement expected the Blue Jays to win the auction. Nope. The Rangers and their quiet front office, led by Daniels, swooped in and landed the rights to sign Darvish.

The thought on a deal for the 25-year-old right hander could be in between the range of Daisuke Matsuzaka's 2007 contract with Boston (six years, $52 million) and C.J. Wilson's recent free agent signing with Anaheim (five years, $77.5 million).

I hope he's as good as his filthy highlights suggest:



Nasty.

Darvish projects as a potential top of the rotation starter and he's at the normal age (25) to enter his prime. He's posted five straight seasons of a sub-2.00 ERA in Japan. His 2011 season was absurd: 18-6, 1.44 ERA, 276 strikeouts in 232 innings. Hello.

If as good as advertised, Darvish could lead a rotation that would look like this:

Yu Darvish (25 years old, right-handed)
Derek Holland (25, L)
Colby Lewis (32, R)
Matt Harrison (26, L)
Neftali Feliz (23, R)

Alexi Ogando would move to the bullpen, where he could be used in the seventh and eighth innings with Mike Adams. They would set up free agent offseason signing Joe Nathan for the ninth.

Now, the attention turns to Daniels' next move. Move Ogando to the bullpen? Trade Colby Lewis, who will become a free agent after the 2012 season? Go after prized free agent first baseman Prince Fielder?

I just hope the Darvish negotiations work out and he pitches in Texas. The Rangers will need a No. 1 starter to make a third consecutive World Series appearance, and I'm not sure we have one on the current roster. Maybe this is the move Texas needed to make.