Announced Monday Night, Japanese star pitcher Yu Darvish was acquired by the Texas Rangers after their bid of $51.7 M. That tops what the Red Sox gave Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007. For those that do not know Yu, he is half Japanese half Iranian. Last season in the Japanese league he went 18-6 with a league best 1.44 ERA and 278 strikeouts. In his seven year career in Japan, Yu went 99-38 with a 1.99 ERA. He is known as the best pitcher in Japan and he is only 25 years old. Some may remember him from the 2009 World Baseball Classic or the 2008 Bejing Summer Olympics.
Yu will be walking into a team with already five starting rotation pitchers; Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Alexi Ogando, and Neftali Feliz. This will make it very interesting for the Rangers who really don't have a number one pitcher due to the departure of last year's ace C.J. Wilson. The signing of Yu will also help gain Japanese fans for a team that already has a giant fan base in Texas. This team has lost back to back years in the World Series and they are hoping this signing will get them over the hump.
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