Rangers win exclusive negotiating rights to Yu Darvish

[GTBrian23]

Harrison and Holland are both really young, either one has the "stuff" to be a solid #2/3 guy. They are both really young and matured alot over last season. I think Holland proved he was mature enough for the #2 role and by the time he reaches his full potential could be a #1 on some teams. Harrison I think will be a very good #4 guy that will be ready to step up to #3 after colby's time has passes.

I dont think having a number 2/3 pitcher is our issue, nor was it our issue last year. Hell our issue last year was that we had pretty much 5 pitchers that could have been the 2/3 guy and no #1. I also dont think we are taking that big of a risk with Feliz. If he proves he cannot do it then we have Ogando and Feldman that can step up and be good number 5's. As long as Darvish holds onto his end of the bargain starting pitching shouldnt be an issue at all.

From what I have seen from other Japanese pitchers I think Darvish is in a class all his own. He doesnt fit into their mold, he fits more in what Americans think of as an Ace. A hard throwing guy with great command of his pitches and strikes out a bunch and rarely walks people. Do I think he will be the next Verlander, no but he doesnt have to be. Hell if he even gets close we will get our monies worth out of him easily.

[GTBrian23]

If they sign Fielder, Hamilton's gone. They won't pay both those guys.

I dont really know if that is true. One it depends on what Fielder wants, if he wants a decade deal like Pujols then I dont think that the Rangers will go for both. If Fielder will go with a say 6 year with 7th club option then I think it may be possible to fit both in.

Last year the Rangers were middle of the pack salary wise at 93 mil, obviously that is going up a little with all the aribitration deals we have to make this year and signing Darvish. Have they said at all what they are trying to stay at salary wise?

Personally even with the injury risk I think Hambone over fielder. He is a ture 5 tool player. He plays "new" Ranger baseball by being able to manufacter runs with his legs and hit for average. Also his fielding is head and shoulders above Fielder. While I like him, Fielder is more old school Rangers where we just try to out muscle whoever we play.

[GTBrian23]

No Ogando? Or have the Rangers already stated that he's going back to the bullpen no matter what?

From what we've all ssen, i don't think Feliz has enough pitches to make it through 5 innings in a ballgame, little alone 7. I really hope he proves me wrong.

I think they have pretty much stated Ogando will stay in the bullpen. I also havent seen anything suggesting Feldman will be coming out of the bullpen. Its a really good backup plan for Feliz though if he stinks up the place.

I think he has more pitches than he throws when he closes but just relies on his fastball to much. Hopefully Maddux can get him to be confident in his other pitches and use his fastball as his "out" pitch instead of every other pitch haha.

[juiceweezl]

I think they have pretty much stated Ogando will stay in the bullpen. I also havent seen anything suggesting Feldman will be coming out of the bullpen. Its a really good backup plan for Feliz though if he stinks up the place.

I think he has more pitches than he throws when he closes but just relies on his fastball to much. Hopefully Maddux can get him to be confident in his other pitches and use his fastball as his "out" pitch instead of every other pitch haha.

I read yesterday that the plan is for Feldman to stay in the pen and be a starter as needed because of injuries. Feliz will be fine. Remember, he was being groomed as a starter before he converted to closer.

[juiceweezl]

Harrison and Holland are both really young, either one has the "stuff" to be a solid #2/3 guy. They are both really young and matured alot over last season. I think Holland proved he was mature enough for the #2 role and by the time he reaches his full potential could be a #1 on some teams. Harrison I think will be a very good #4 guy that will be ready to step up to #3 after colby's time has passes.

I dont think having a number 2/3 pitcher is our issue, nor was it our issue last year. Hell our issue last year was that we had pretty much 5 pitchers that could have been the 2/3 guy and no #1. I also dont think we are taking that big of a risk with Feliz. If he proves he cannot do it then we have Ogando and Feldman that can step up and be good number 5's. As long as Darvish holds onto his end of the bargain starting pitching shouldnt be an issue at all.

From what I have seen from other Japanese pitchers I think Darvish is in a class all his own. He doesnt fit into their mold, he fits more in what Americans think of as an Ace. A hard throwing guy with great command of his pitches and strikes out a bunch and rarely walks people. Do I think he will be the next Verlander, no but he doesnt have to be. Hell if he even gets close we will get our monies worth out of him easily.

I 100% agree with the pitching assessment. If Darvish can come close to resembling what Lee did 2 seasons ago, the Rangers will be fine. I'm more interested at lengthening Hambone and Elvis now than signing Fielder. Besides, I like what Moreland can potentially bring to the field, especially since he can play outfield too.

[Slowhand]

I read yesterday that the plan is for Feldman to stay in the pen and be a starter as needed because of injuries. Feliz will be fine. Remember, he was being groomed as a starter before he converted to closer.

He's still a 1.5 pitch-pitcher. It barely cut it in the bullpen, and it's not going to cut it in the rotation. He's going to need a stunning spring training to be effective in the rotation.

[GTBrian23]

He's still a 1.5 pitch-pitcher. It barely cut it in the bullpen, and it's not going to cut it in the rotation. He's going to need a stunning spring training to be effective in the rotation.

?? He has a Fastball, Curve, Slider and Change. His Curve can be sick when on and his slider isnt bad at all. The problem is at the first sign of trouble he is fastball, fastball fastball. He is young and has confidence issues, I think given a full off-season and a year on the mound he will be able to gain confidence in those other pitches. Hard to get that when you only pitch 1 inning ever couple of days. Dont get me wrong, I think he will struggle some this season buti inthe years to come he will turn into a very solid starter. If not we can just fall back to Ogando.

[BERT]

?? He has a Fastball, Curve, Slider and Change. His Curve can be sick when on and his slider isnt bad at all. The problem is at the first sign of trouble he is fastball, fastball fastball. He is young and has confidence issues, I think given a full off-season and a year on the mound he will be able to gain confidence in those other pitches. Hard to get that when you only pitch 1 inning ever couple of days. Dont get me wrong, I think he will struggle some this season buti inthe years to come he will turn into a very solid starter. If not we can just fall back to Ogando.

He hung that curve waaaaaay to much. He also kept his fastball up way to much. Hopefully he can keep those pitches down in the zone.

[GTBrian23]

He hung that curve waaaaaay to much. He also kept his fastball up way to much. Hopefully he can keep those pitches down in the zone.

Yeah that is why I said when he is on haha. when he was off he was OFF. Who knows, maybe he will be one of those guys that need an inning or 2 to really find a rythem

[clevelandkid]

saw the guy for the first time on sportscenter this morning... he was wearing a pot leaf t-shirt. hopefully he knows they drug test in MLB.

[mstng86]

Yu is here.

http://www.wfaa.com/video?id=70231852&sec=553117

[Slowhand]

?? He has a Fastball, Curve, Slider and Change. His Curve can be sick when on and his slider isnt bad at all. The problem is at the first sign of trouble he is fastball, fastball fastball. He is young and has confidence issues, I think given a full off-season and a year on the mound he will be able to gain confidence in those other pitches. Hard to get that when you only pitch 1 inning ever couple of days. Dont get me wrong, I think he will struggle some this season buti inthe years to come he will turn into a very solid starter. If not we can just fall back to Ogando.

I've never, not once, seen Feliz throw a curveball that I would consider sick. I've seen a handful that were adequate.

[Slowhand]

Daniels is reportedly saying that it's highly unlikely that they'll sign Fielder.

[Vertnut]

Daniels is reportedly saying that it's highly unlikely that they'll sign Fielder.

Hamilton will be thrilled. I'm not sure how many teams will pay him $14 million a year for playing in 120 games, but these guys will. He'll be 31 in May, too.

[jakesford]

saw the guy for the first time on sportscenter this morning... he was wearing a pot leaf t-shirt. hopefully he knows they drug test in MLB.

There was a bit of a stir created by the photos of the arrival, when Darvish wore a T-shirt with the phrase “I Will Survive” surrounding the image of a Japanese Maple Leaf, which looks similar to a marijuana leaf.

“In Japan, anything that’s like a T-shirt with English words on it,” he said. “We just tend to wear it, we don’t really actually know what it means.”

I thought this was actually pretty funny considering people do the same thing here.