Angels Don’t Bid On Yu Darvish

Today was Yu Darvish bid deadline day. Sentences like that do not impress the ladies, my friends. This is just a bit of house-cleaning at the Hangout as I didn’t expect the Angels to submit a winning bid for Darvish. Darvish is a 25-year-old star pitcher in Japan and the Nippon Ham Fighters decided to cash in on his rights this off-season.

MLB teams could silently bid on the right to negotiate with Darvish until 4 PM EST on Wednesday. If the winning team can’t agree to terms with Darvish, he goes back to Japan and the Fighters don’t pocket the posting fee which could top Daisuke Matsuzaka’s $51.1+ million fee in 2006. I doubt the Fighters are that cash strapped as Nippon Meat Packers, Inc. is like the SPAM of Japan.[citation needed]

The posting fee, according to Twitter is ranging from modest to astronomical, won’t be coming from Angels owner Arte Moreno’s wallet…

Darvish posted career bests with 18 wins, 232.0 innings, 1.44 ERA and 276 strikeouts in 2011 but has been a star since he was drafted in Japan out of high school in 2004, when the Angels had heavily scouted him. Darvish projects as a number 2 or 3 piitcher in a Major League rotation by most. With C.J. Wilson’s 5-year/$77 million deal in place, the Angels already secured their number 3 (or 4) pitcher for *probably* much less than what it will wind up costing to get Darvish out of Japan.

Mmm, Nippon Ham. I make an awesome dish with that, some Khlav Kalash on a stick and crab juice in a can. I’m pretty sure I learned that recipe from an episode of Top Chef. It was either that or…