The Yu Darvish Contract

Jeff Wilson has the details of the annual salaries in the Yu Darvish contract, and they break down thusly:

2012 -- $5.5 million

2013 -- $9.5 million

2014 -- $10 million

2015 -- $10 million

2016 -- $10 million

2017 -- $11 million

That only adds up to $56 million, which is the total amount guaranteed, with Wilson saying the remainder of the $60 million reported "can be earned through roster bonuses." I'm not sure what the roster bonuses are or why the deal is set up this way. I guess if the Rangers release Darvish before his contract is up, it is a way for them to save a couple of million, but this still seems odd.

Note that the 2012 salary for Darvish is just $5.5 million. Given that the Rangers have just sent $51.7 million to the Nippon Ham Fighters for his rights, I guess it makes sense to want to have the 2012 salary figure be slightly lower than the rest of the years of the deal.

UPDATE -- Maury Brown writes that the roster bonus is $800,000 per year for each year he is not on the disabled list for more than 30 days. If he's on the disabled list for more than 30 days, the bonus is "reduced by $5,228.75 per day starting on Day 31."