Yu Darvish Has Plenty Of Suitors

One of the key baseball free agents this winter is Japanese starting pitcher Yu Darvish. The 25-year-old right-hander has spent the last few seasons pitching for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and is supposed to be posted for bidding at some point this offseason. When he is, a bunch of teams are expected to be in the mix for him. The 6’5 Darvish has been on the radar of most big league teams since his showing during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He has a combination of plus stuff, great size and the results to match. While most Japanese pitchers that come to America are compact with tight deliveries, Darvish looks more like the kind of American player scouts drool over. He’s tall, long and loose. In 232 innings this season Darvish struck out 276 batters while walking just 36 (six of those were intentional passes), and compiled a record of 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA. Clearly if he wants to be challenged any more he needs to head to Major League Baseball. While the Japanes...