Yu Darvish Talks Stall Over Length Of Contract

Published: 15^th Jan 12 12:51 pm

by Joshua Casey
Joshua Casey

6 Rants

Yu Darvish Talks Stall Over Length Of Contract

Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

When the idea of Yu Darvish coming over to the MLB became apparent this off-season most people felt that one of the only roadblocks to that happening would be many team’s reluctance to divvy up the 50 million or so it would cost just to talk to Darvish. After seeing how the Daisuke Matsuzaka situation played out in Boston, Dice-K wasn’t or isn’t what everyone had hoped for, one would not blame a franchise for not willing to pay up. But one team did pay up due to the fact that they lost their ace this past off-season to a division rival and really had no choice but to make a big splash in the free-agency market. That team of course is the Texas Rangers.

After paying $51.7 million just to talk to Darvish, it now seems that talks have stalled over the length of the contract that each side desires. Darvish is looking for a 5 year contract while the Rangers are looking to lock him up for 6 years, this according to several league sources who are in on the talks. The deadline for a deal between the two to be reached is Wednesday at 5 p.m ET, and Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan has said that he is optimistic that a deal will get done between the two sides.

Now although most star players usually look for a long-term contract Darvish’s situation is different from most. With a 5 year deal in place, as opposed to the 6 year deal the Rangers want, Darvish would be able to become a free-agent one year earlier and possibly become one of the most sought after free-agents in a long time, if he pans out like everyone expects him to. If Darvish does indeed agree to the six year deal that the Rangers want then it would come at a price well over the one that Dice-K saw with the Boston Red Sox in 2007.

Darvish does seem to have the upper hand in the talks here, seeing how he can walk at any time and come back to the MLB next season with still a long list of possible suitors, the Rangers still have backup plans in place. The biggest backup plan for the Rangers lies with the best free-agent left on the market, whom the Rangers met with on Friday. But Fielder is not their only option as the Rangers have kept talks open with several other free-agent starters whom they desire.

Still after all of this it seems that the likelihood of talks breaking down between the two sides, Darvish and the Rangers, is slim as both sides seem to have a huge amount of respect for each other. Sources in on the talks have said that they expect a deal to get done by Wednesday and that this is just a small bump in the road.

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