Prince Fielder Still looking for a home. (AP)
DALLAS — With Mark Buehrle and C.J. Wilson now having signed, the free-agent starting pitching market took a Yu-turn yesterday.
Yu Darvish, viewed as the best pitcher in Japan, now becomes the best starter left in this free-agent market. But just how good — and for how much — are now the key questions. Darvish has agreed to be posted by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
So teams have until Wednesday at 5 p.m. to give a sealed bid to the commissioner’s office. The high bid, if approved by the Japanese commissioner’s office, gets a 30-day window to sign the righty. The last time this was done at this level was with Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Boston spent a combined $103 million between winning the post and contract to secure Dice-K.
Matsuzaka has not turned out to be the star expected, and a Red Sox official assured me Boston will not be a factor in bidding for Darvish.
And Yankees officials also sounded pessimistic about making a significant posting bid, if they submit one at all. First, the Yankees are claiming their budget is tight now with a desire to keep it down into the near future with a goal of getting under the luxury-tax threshold of $189 million in 2014.
But also they are gun-shy after winning the post for Kei Igawa, and losing in just about every other way with that $46 million disaster. Yes, Yankees scouts say Darvish is far, far superior to Igawa. He is 6-foot-5 and just 25. He pitches at 93-95 mph, and will reach back to hit 97 at times of crisis. And he owns an assortment of breaking balls so vast that scouts assert you have to see him several times to see the full assortment.
However, Yankees officials have concerns about the transition from, say, the NL West to the AL East, so they have even greater concerns about gambling so much on a pitcher who will have to not only change level of competition, but also cultures, size of the baseball, slope of the mound and training regimen — to name a few items.
For now, the Blue Jays and Rangers are expected to be the most aggressive pursuers of Darvish.
Bombers fell off the Mark
The Yankees liked Mark Buehrle but would not offer more than a two-year contract. Buehrle signed for four years at $58 million with the Marlins. The player who saved Buehrle’s 2009 perfect game with a great catch, DeWayne Wise, did sign a minor league deal with the Yankees.
* The Yankees also were close to a minor league contract with righty Adam Miller, who was ranked among the majors’ top 100 prospects by Baseball America every year from 2005-09. The former Indian farmhand, however, never made it to the majors because of a series of injuries to his right arm, notably to his middle finger. Still only 27, Miller will be viewed as a reliever by the Yanks, who did something similar with Mark Prior last year, but never got him to the majors.
* The Yankees definitely are interested in bringing back Andruw Jones as a fourth outfielder, but have to push it off for a few more weeks as they wait to see if they use what is in their budget on a starter before addressing their bench.
The Yankees liked how Jones played, particularly in the second half, and also how he mixed well in the clubhouse. A friend of Jones said the feeling was mutual. The friend also revealed that following offseason knee surgery that Jones has said if he comes back to the Yankees, he is coming in the kind of shape with the idea of winning a corner outfield job, not just accepting a back-up position.
Cubs look to make splash by crowning Prince
With Albert Pujols now signed with the Angels, Prince Fielder becomes the biggest hitting prize left in the field. The Cubs and Mariners are definitely bidding for the slugger. There are conflicting reports on if the Nationals, Brewers, Rangers and Marlins are involved. But a person that is talking to the Fielder camp said he believes all of those teams are pursuing Fielder.
In canvassing executives, the Cubs were generally viewed as the most likely landing place, mainly for two reasons: 1) A belief that new team president Theo Epstein wants to make a statement sign in his first year and 2) Epstein recognizes the dearth of power in the game and sees Fielder as one of the few bona fide sluggers who will be available over the next few years.
* The Yankees did win the post a few days back for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, but a major league official said he is doubtful Nakajima will come to be a utility infielder (the role the Yankees have for him) at limited pay. The executive said the scenario he sees playing out is Nakajima returning to Japan to play one more year to gain total free agency and then coming to play for Bobby Valentine, who — this executive claimed — likes Nakajima a great deal as a hitter.
* Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine said that in strategy sessions his team did not anticipate the division rival Angels to sign Albert Pujols. The Rangers figured between Kendry Morales, Mark Trumbo and Bobby Abreu, the Angels had three candidates to play first base/designated hitter.