Yu Darvish Wouldn't Have Served Chicago White Sox Well

Yu Darvish's Japanese team announced their choice to negotiate with the Texas Rangers on Monday. This is a disappointment to the other teams that bid for Darvish. Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox are surely chuckling bystanders. That Darvish lands elsewhere is great for the White Sox.

Darvish might have been an impressive pitcher in Japan. He posted a 1.60 earned run average in 434 innings in his last two years in Japan. He had a 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and allowed 1.7 walks per nine innings.

All of those figures top the marks set by prior pitchers of the Nippon-Ham Fighters to enter the major leagues across the same time frame. That class includes Hideo Nomo, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kei Igawa.

That's very nice. However, one can hardly tell if Darvish will succeed. He comes from the same tiny baseball compounds that other Japanese players played on. Darvish also pitched with the same big ball.

His statistics mean nothing, especially when faced with powerful MLB hitters like White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko.

Darvish has good stuff. His fastball comes in at 95 to 96 miles per hour. Like Matsuzaka, Darvish has several pitches in his arsenal.

Consider the pitching routine of Japanese pitchers. Japanese pitchers are used to eight days of rest between starts. Coming to a White Sox rotation and having to pitch on four or five days of rest would be a rude awakening for Darvish, as it was for Matsuzaka.

Note that no Japanese pitcher has ever started for the White Sox. This is partially due to the White Sox focusing much more on Latin America than Japan. One can also credit Kenny Williams for focusing on ensuring that they acquire more MLB-ready starters for the White Sox rotation.

The White Sox are best off hitting against Darvish than pitching him. Matsuzaka grew tired in his first season. Igawa posted a 6.66 earned run average. Hideki Irabu posted a 5.15 earned run average and never made 30 starts in a season. 

Unlike what Sports Illustrated writer Cliff Corcoran said, observers must rely on the history of Japanese pitchers in evaluating Darvish. That's the only reliable measurement observers can go on.

Also, consider the cost of doing business with Darvish. The Rangers bid $51.7 million just to negotiate.  Imagine what they might end up paying Darvish. Kenny Williams knows it would be crazy to pay him the sum the Rangers might pay him.

The Red Sox gave Matsuzaka six years and $51 million. That's not a sum that Jerry Reinsdorf would hand an unproven pitcher entering the White Sox rotation.

That Darvish chose to negotiate with the Rangers is fine for the White Sox. If all goes well and he signs, White Sox hitters might enjoy hitting off of him. Maybe Adam Dunn could rediscover his stroke against Darvish.