Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish reportedly wants to play Major League Baseball next season – ESPN

Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish wants to play Major League Baseball next season, USA Today reported Wednesday.

A 25-year-old right-hander Darvish plays for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, who would take bids from MLB teams to negotiate for their ace’s services. The money from the winning bid goes to the Fighters.

The team that wins the bidding has 30 days to negotiate a deal with Darvish. If a deal is not agreed upon, Darvish would go back to Japan and the money from the winning bid is returned.

Darvish has a 1.99 earned run average in Japan’s Pacific League since turning pro in 2005. He was 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA this season.

“He’s one of the best,” Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, who managed against Darvish in Japan, told USA Today. “If you asked, ‘Who are the four best pitchers in baseball?’ you’d have to talk about him.”

via Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish reportedly wants to play Major League Baseball next season – ESPN.