Yu Darvish Bid Shows Texas Rangers Aren't Going Anwhere

Things certainly have changed in Arlington.  After years of mediocrity, the Texas Rangers seemingly made all the right moves and built one of the top franchises in the league.  Now they are determined to keep it that way.

Past acquisitions of Vladimir Guerrero, Cliff Lee, Adrian Beltre, Mike Napoli and Mike Adams helped propel the Rangers to two straight American League Championships.  As bold as those deals were, they either involved established veterans or didn't risk huge amounts of money. 

Realistically though, progressing from a feel-good baseball story to a perennial winner eventually requires some expensive risks.

By bidding $51.7 million to negotiate with Japanese phenom Yu Darvish, the Rangers showed that they are committed to improving their club for the future, and willing to risk big bucks to do so.

Darvish is reportedly looking for something in the range of a five-year, $75 million deal.  Add in the negotiating fee, and the Rangers will likely be spending an amount similar to the five-year, $120 million that the Phillies gave Cliff Lee last winter.

Clearly, if the Rangers are willing to pay out that kind of money, they could have used a lot less of it to sign C.J. Wilson.  But the Rangers knew what Wilson gives them.  They knew that he could give them a solid rotation that would likely propel Texas to the playoffs again.

But after facing the likes of Tim Lincecum, Justin Verlander and Chris Carpenter in the postseason, the Rangers know the value of a bona fide ace.  Wilson has shown time and time again that as talented and productive as he can be, he is not that type of ace. 

So by focusing on Darvish, the Rangers opted to instead pursue a pitcher they’ve been watching for years.  At 25 years old, he already has 93 wins under his belt and a whopping 1.99 ERA.  His 6'5" frame appears durable and he has consistently thrown a lot of innings without injury.

Still, this deal is a gamble.  Darvish has never faced MLB hitting.  He may not adapt well to the American style of play.  And like all pitchers, he’s one major injury away from being irrelevant.

The worst-case scenario is that Darvish fails to perform, and even then the Rangers still have starters Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Alexi Ogando and Neftali Feliz.  If Feliz successfully adapts to his new starting role, a rotation with those five pitchers shouldn’t miss a beat from last year.

The best-case scenario is that the Rangers finally get a true ace to anchor their rotation, fill the remaining spots with their surplus of young arms, and stand a much better chance of finally winning a World Series.

Jon Daniels and company are betting a lot of money on the best-case scenario, without depleting their minor league system or trading away valuable players.  They are running the Rangers organization like a perennial winner, and fans should be thrilled.