Yu Darvish is [] This Close to Crossing the Pacific

This is Yu Darvish, widely considered to be the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball. Prior to the 2004 NPB Amateur Draft, Darvish was scouted while in junior high school by the Anaheim Angels and Atlanta Braves, but Darvish made clear his intentions to play for NPB, not MLB. In 5 years playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Darvish has amassed some very impressive numbers including:

• 93-38 W-L
• 1.99 ERA
• .98 WHIP
• Reigning 2-year Strikeout Leader (498 K)

Darvish is the son of an Iranian father and a Japanese mother; his full name is Yu Darvishsefad, but shortened to Darvish more than likely due to the difficulty in pronouncing his real last name.

So why am I making this post about Yu Darvish? Because he just a week away from potentially joining Major League Baseball. Darvish has been posted to MLB, where teams will bid for him in a silent auction. The silent auction has ended and MLB commissioner Bud Selig has informed NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato as to Darvish's asking price, but not the team that won the bid. The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters have until Tuesday, December 20th to accept the bid, and then a 30 day window for Darvish's agents to accept or reject his new team's deal. The Washington Nationals have reportedly expressed interest in Darvish, while the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers have confirmed that they did not bid for him.

Darvish's only weakness at this point appears to be his batting ability, hitting under .090 BA. Of course if an AL team wins the bid, that point will be moot.

More news as it develops...