Rangers Sign Japan’s Yu Darvish

Dave Martin

Dave Martin is a New-York based writer as well as editor. He is the sports editor for the Epoch Times and is a consultant to private writers.

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January 18, 2012Updated: October 1, 2015

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Japan v China - World Baseball Classic Tokyo Day 1 — The Rangers have committed a little over $111 million to Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

The Texas Rangers have signed Japanese starting pitcher Yu Darvish to a six-year deal worth approximately $60 million, according to a report on MLB.com.

Texas, which had won the exclusive bidding rights with a posting fee of $51.7 million, had a 5 p.m. EST Wednesday deadline to complete the deal or Darvish’s Japanese team, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters would keep Darvish for another season and not receive the posting fee.

Darvish, 25, went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA in 28 games for the Fighters in 2011. Twice Darvish has been named MVP of Japan’s Pacific League and twice he’s been selected as the top pitcher.

The right-hander has a fair amount of international pitching experience after playing for Japan’s national team in the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Baseball Classic.