VIDEO: It’s official – Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish will be pitching in MLB 2012.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Japanese ace Yu Darvish will be pitching in a Texas Rangers uniform in 2012, agreeing to a six-year deal worth approximately $60 million on Wednesday.

Darvish agreed to the deal, which according to a source includes $56 million guaranteed, just before Wednesday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline. The agreement comes 30 days after the Rangers won the right to negotiate with Darvish and his representatives, Don Nomura and Arn Tellem, by submitting a record $51.7 million posting bid.

The club will now send the Nippon-Ham Fighters that payment and Darvish will come to the United States to pitch in the big leagues for the first time.”He’s really thrilled to be coming here,” Tellem said. “This is where he wanted to be.”  Darvish, who is still in Japan, will be in Arlington on Friday for a news conference.

Including the posting fee, the Rangers paid more than $111 million to sign Darvish, which is more than the $103 million that the Boston Red Sox gave up to negotiate with and sign Daisuke Matsuzaka.

“We saw a guy that we felt was built to pitch innings and has a classic pitcher’s build,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “He has a real commitment to his conditioning and work ethic. We think he can pitch innings at a high caliber for a large amount of time.”

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Darvish pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was 18 when he began his pro career and, after an average rookie season, was 12-5 with a 2.89 ERA and 115 strikeouts in his second season (2006). He’s been consistent since, going 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA in his career in Japan.

The Rangers believe he will be a critical upper-rotation starter for years to come and will do so as he hits what should be the prime of his career. It’s an important addition for a Rangers staff that does not have a true No. 1 after C.J. Wilson left to sign a five-year, $77.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels in December.

It’s unclear where Darvish will slot in the Rangers’ rotation when the season starts, but manager Ron Washington has already said that veteran Colby Lewis will start Opening Day. The rest of the rotation will be decided during spring training. The first three games of the season are against the Chicago White Sox, followed by three at home against the Seattle Mariners — and Ichiro Suzuki.

“We’re not going to spring training with these great expectations that he’s going to shine over everybody else,” Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan said. “We want him to come in and fit in and make the adjustment of being over here, being in major league baseball for the first time. As we go through spring training and the early part of the season, he’ll start showing what he’s capable of doing.”

But when asked if Darvish was an ace, Ryan said: “I think he certainly has the potential to be.”  “It’s not fair of me to say that I see him as our No. 1, but I certainly think he has the potential,” Ryan said. “He’s very unique.”

The Rangers’ interest in Darvish dates back a few years. They had a scout at nearly every one of his starts in 2011, and Daniels watched him in person last summer. The club has increased its Pacific Rim operations in recent years, with Lewis as its biggest success story.

“The Rangers, more so than any other team, showed not only great interest in scouting him, but spent a lot of personal time developing a relationship with him over the last couple of years through scouts that visited him in Japan,” Tellem said. “There was an instant connection between Yu and his family with the Ranger organization.”

Darvish visited Texas for the first time earlier this month to get a feel for the place. He took a tour of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, watched a special video the club put together for him that included some of his pitching highlights, clips of the Rangers’ postseason runs and messages from Josh Hamilton and Ryan, among others. Darvish also met several players, including Hamilton and Ian Kinsler, and talked with Ryan and Rangers manager Ron Washington. He also had dinner with pitching coach Mike Maddux.

“The biggest impression I got, or the most surprising thing that I saw, was how big he is,” said Maddux, echoing the sentiments of Hamilton, Kinsler and Ryan. “He’s big.”  The big question for Darvish is whether, unlike some of the recent Japanese pitchers who have posted in the past, his stuff can translate to the big league level. The Rangers’ scouts believe they will and so does Lewis, who beat Darvish in 2008 when Lewis was pitching in Japan.

“If you’re able to throw strikes, pound the strike zone and get guys out, it doesn’t matter what league you play in,” Lewis said last week. “If you can command the fastball and do what you need to do to get guys out, you can have success here too. He has overpowering stuff, especially in that league over there. The big thing that stood out to me was his fastball command. If he can do that here, he’ll have success.”

via Texas Rangers, Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish agree to six-year, $60M deal – ESPN Dallas.

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