Yu Darvish is the next "big thing" to come from the Japanese domestic baseball league. He projects as a potential closer/set up man. Already MLB teams are submitting bids for the right to negotiate with Darvish. This is hilarious to me. Japanese teams require European soccer-like transfer fees just for the right to negotiate with players, then the player is given a contract indicitive of an established major leaguer, despite playing in what effectively is a minor league. Overpaying for Japanese league talent is just absurd. Aside from a few relief pitchers (and relievers can be found extremely cheap, like Axford) most of these players have been high priced flameouts. From Irabu to Dice K to Nishikowa to Fukudome, there have been high priced busts throughout the major leagues. The only two guys who have made any sort of measurable impact have been Ichiro, who is an other worldly talent, and Matsui, Japan's equivalent to Pujols. Two players that were head and shoulders above any other player in the Japanese league. Why the hell do MLB teams keep falling for this?
