The Toronto Blue Jays reportedly won the bidding war for Japanese sensation Yu Darvish, and they will immediately become playoff contenders if they can sign him.
It will cost them between $40-50 million to negotiate, plus the five-year, $75 million deal that Darvish is seeking. But it will be worth it.
Many major league fans are wary of Japanese pitchers after disappointments like Hideki Irabu and Daisuke Matsuzaka. However, Darvish can’t even be compared to them.
The right-hander is massive (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) and incredibly durable. In his first four professional seasons, he threw 40 complete games. In 2011, he pitched a career-high 232 innings.
The 25-year-old also has ridiculous stuff. He possesses a diverse arsenal of pitches, throwing six with consistency.
He throws a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, and a vicious cutter, all of which clock in the low to mid-90s.
He also has a mean curveball, a horizontally breaking slider, and a deceptive downward breaking slider.
The pitches have given Japanese hitters fits. In seven professional seasons, Darvish is 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA.
I expect him to have similar success in the majors. He would give the Blue Jays a solid top three in the rotation, with Ricky Romero and strikeout machine Brandon Marrow on board.
Toronto already has a potent offense and they may be getting stronger. Only five teams scored more runs in 2011, and they could be adding free agent slugger Prince Fielder.
If the Blue Jays can deliver on these big offseason moves, they will immediately become contenders in the brutal AL East.
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