Yu Darvish Will Be Worth Every Last Penny for Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers have won exclusive negotiating rights with Japanese starting pitcher Yu Darvish for $51.7 million, according to Jeff Passan. The record-setting bid might seem like a lot, especially considering past performance of pitchers from Japan, but the Rangers will get their money's worth.

Texas now has 30 days to agree on contract terms with Darvish. When you consider how much they spent just to talk with him, a long-term deal shouldn't be any more difficult to negotiate.

Darvish spent the last seven seasons with Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. The right-handed ace went 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA and 0.98 WHIP while striking out nearly one batter per inning. Those are impressive numbers, even for the pitching-friendly Nippon Professional Baseball league.

He's also just 25 years old, which means his career should still be on the rise, whereas most previous pitchers came MLB during the tail-end of their prime. Darvish will have time to adapt to the American style without wasting one of his best seasons.

It's not like the Rangers' interest is based purely on one or two good seasons, either. Darvish has had sustained success in Japan and was even scouted during high school by several major league teams as a possible option. So he's been on the radar for awhile.

He continued to garner more hype as a part of Japan's gold medal-winning team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Still, as the pressure continued to increase, Darvish's career kept flourishing.

There's no situation Texas could put him in that he hasn't already dealt with in some way, shape or form already. That makes him much less likely to be a major bust. While he won't be able to maintain a sub-2.00 ERA, he should be able to post respectable numbers right away while continuing to grow.

The Rangers also needed a replacement for C.J. Wilson, who bolted to the division-rival Los Angeles Angels earlier in the offseason. Winning bid aside, the actual contracts will probably end up being similar. Wilson was a late bloomer and is already 31.

Following back-to-back World Series losses, a minor shakeup was necessary to help put this team over the top and switching Darvish for Wilson is a smart long-term move.

It'll be important for fans not to overreact in the first few weeks or months. Darvish will need to get used to pitching every fifth day. He only started around 25 games per season in Japan. That number will increase by about 10 with Texas.

After he settles in, though, he should end up making the Rangers front office look smart for taking a chance on him. Past failures shouldn't overshadow the talent of a player like Darvish. It's clear he has a ton of potential and will not be a lag on Texas' payroll for seasons to come like past Japanese pitchers have been.

To stay competitive, teams need to spend money. There's no way around that. So, although there are obvious risks involved, the Rangers made the right move by bidding so much for Darvish.