any time soon. I can’t see the NPB letting him go for a while yet.

Pay that and have his arm fall off… Randy Galloway writes a column about how this is the next Chan Ho and Nolan never would have messed it up that bad. Don’t pay it, and Galloway writes a column that Nolan would have gotten it done somehow, regardless of whether his arm falls off or whether he combines the complete-game-every-outing durability of Halladay with the inability-to-score-against of 2008 Cliff Lee.

...they need to learn to grow their own. To acquire one in any other way just costs too much and has too much risk.

if they post him I can see the Yankees going nuts. With the jr. Steinbrenners apples not falling far from the tree I can see them wanting to outbid the Red Sox and doing something crazy, like $80-90 mil posting fee. Add a likely $10-15 per contract and this guy is going to cost upwards of $25 mil per year. That’s nuts. If you’re going to spend that kind of money there are probably less risky options.

I don’t think the Rangers can afford that big a risk. Leave that to the NY, Boston, and LA teams.

I’ve read some English translations of interviews and sound bites with him and he says he’s not interested in coming to the U.S. to play. He’s Persian & Japanese and he has a Japanese actress wife with whom he has an infant son.

Of course $$$ might change all that five years down the road when he’s eligible to be posted.

I never heard of him, have you? I haven’t seen his name pop up on LSB…

Actually we went through this a couple months ago:

http://www.lonestarball.com/2008/2/3/105527/8215

what would be the point? We could get a guy like CC Sabathia instead, for cheaper or about the same price.

The Rangers have not had much luck with Asian pitchers, have they? Hideki Irabu. Chan Ho Park. And now Kaz Fukumori is looking like a bust (although I wouldn’t give up on him just yet).

Darvish looks like a very nice “prospect” right now. But he plays in a pitcher’s ballpark with lots of foul territory. Regardless of what the Bobby Valentines of the world say about him (next Tom Seaver? are you effing kidding me?), I hardly think he’d be better than Dice-K.

Anyhow, $75 million to negotiate is just too much. I don’t think it’d be wise to spend Johan-Santana money ($75 mil – at least- plus contract) on such a guy who’s never thrown a pitch in the majors (basically and technically a prospect)

What bugs me about that article is that they make it look like MLB is going over there and “taking” their best players. They are the ones who sell them to MLB teams. Players leave on their own accord. Nobody’s forcing them to come here.

had a piece on him today, the kid looks legit…