Yu Darvish: Cubs' Bid for Darvish Shows Theo Epstein Not Afraid to Tempt Fate

If you were to ask him today, Theo Epstein would probably tell you he'd like to have the Daisuke Matsuzaka acquisition back. It just didn't work out very well. But Epstein, now the President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs, showed on Thursday that he's not about to let one bad acquisition deter him from risking another.

According to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com, the Cubs are one of several teams that have posted a bid for Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish, who was posted by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters earlier in the week.

Indications are that the Cubs' bid for Darvish may not be the highest, in which case the Cubs will be out of the running for Darvish in the very near future. The Ham Fighters have until Tuesday to accept a bid for Darvish, at which point a 30-day window will open up in which the team that won his rights will have to negotiate a contract.

Epstein, who oversees general manager Jed Hoyer, should know the rules. When Epstein was still the general manager of the Boston Red Sox in 2006, he won the Daisuke Matsuzaka bidding with a bid of $51 million and then signed him to a six-year contract worth $52 million.

For their $100-plus million investment, the Red Sox have gotten 49 wins and just 622 innings out of Dice-K. The only season he pitched more than 200 innings was his first season with the club back in 2007. Injuries and ineffectiveness have marred his Red Sox career ever since, and he is currently on the shelf as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

To be sure, it would be foolish to assume that Darvish, 25, is going to walk the exact same career path as Dice-K. It is self-evident that his stuff is electric, and his control appears to be pinpoint. When you have those two things, you have the goods to survive in the Major Leagues.

With the pitching market paper thin this offseason, a pitcher like Darvish stands out. And since the Cubs need starting pitching help, it makes sense that Epstein and the Cubs brass would be interested in Darvish.

These things being said, Epstein should know better than anyone that going after a pitcher like Darvish carries an awful lot of risk. After all, Dice-K boasted electric stuff and pinpoint control when he was pitching in Japan, and he's never shown either in the big leagues. To boot, he failed to adapt to the different style of playing baseball in America, which led to some highly publicized tiffs with management. 

Epstein should be afraid of history repeating itself, but it's pretty clear that he's not. For that, I actually think you have to tip your cap to him. If nothing else, he's showing that he's not afraid to be bold and that he is willing to pursue all options as far as making the Cubs a better baseball team.

After leading the Red Sox to two World Series titles, Epstein clearly isn't messing around with his next project. Cubs fans should be just fine with that. If anybody can rescue this franchise from its century-plus championship drought, it's Epstein. All he needs to do is put a championship-caliber squad on the field.

He's not going to do that by resting on his laurels.