TOR is one of the teams in on Beltran; you wonder if he's serious about them, or if (like some players) he has no interest in playing there.

If the Blue Jays don't win the bid there are going to be an awful lot of broken hearts here. Again I have to point out that EVERY single tweet, and EVERY single article being written right now references one (that's 1) claim which was made by the New York Post. That in itself was not even a claim that the Jays won because they use words like "possibly" and "expected".

As much as I would be over the moon if they did win and sign Darvish, for me the Cubs are way too quiet. Also I never trust what the Yankees say. Someone claims they said they made a "modest bid". What exactly does modest translate into in Yankee World? If for nothing else then to save what sanity I have left, I refuse to get get caught up in all of this nonsense because it is still a bunch of writers with "sources" that are guessing. I would strongly suggest you do the same until something more concrete comes out.

At 11pm on January 18th (or thereabouts) we will be gathered here again waiting to see if the Jays and Darvish have agreed on a contract.

More likely, we will be gathered here again on a daily basis, parsing what purport to be the leaked reports detailing the progress of the negotations. Such is the nature of the off-season. Too little to actually report on and too many to do so.

At 11pm on January 18th (or thereabouts) we will be gathered here again waiting to see if the Jays and Darvish have agreed on a contract.

The team that has the best chance of getting burned this offseason is the team that wins the rights to Darvish.  I would hope that if the Jays win the bid they explain to team Darvish that they are not in a position to wait 30 days (at which time Santana, Gonzalez, Jurgins, Shields will all be traded or off the board).  I would give Darvish fair time to visit Toronto and contemplate moving here - say 10 days take it or leave it. 

Now....I actually have to get some work done today!

I absolutely would not be surprised if some team other than the Jays takes the cake. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Jays, though...

There have been much speculation that MLB has not informed the teams that bid whether they were the highest or not.  However, this is not precluded in any description of the posting process that I have seen.  I would be surprised if the teams didn't know (under gag order) whether they were successful or not.  Especially when we see rumours that the Nationals are now after Gio or Danks, and the Cubs are stepping up efforts for Fielder.

I'm sure there's some argument to be made as why it may have to be kept secret from the teams, but I can't see it.

Even Heyman tweeting in code could be a result of Boras texting him something like "Jays cooled on Fielder" in the hours after bidding closed.  [Of course, Heyman would not be permitted to relay that information to the world because it would hurt Boras' leverage in Fielder negotiations, but could draw conclusions on Darvish.]

This takes 4 days?

We don't want anybody claiming duress.

So what do you think Darvish is worth?  Is he a $15M per year pitcher, comparable to CJ Wilson, or a $20M per year pitcher, comparable to Roy Halladay?

Here is the Jays perspective on the financials:

Lets look at two options...First Darvish is a $15M per year pitcher, and secondly that he is an $20M per year pitcher.

If you look at a 5 year deal, your total cost should be between $75M and $100M.

If you sign a six year contract your total cost will be between $90M and $120M.

Now how do you split those dollars between Hippon HF and Darvish?

If you think it should be a 50/50 split then you bid between $37.5M and $50M for 5 years, and between $45M and $60M for 6 years.

That is also the amount you have to pay Darvish.  Those amounts on an annual contract vary between $7.5M per season and $10M per season.  It has been reported that Darvish will get $8M to play in Japan.  So the Jays will have to pay him close to the high end of the range I have here.

If we believe that the Jays bid around $50M for his rights and they will have to pay him another $9M to $10M per season, Darvish will cost the Jays approx. $20M per season.

CJ Wilson is getting $15M per season so the Jays are valuing Darvish at approx 33% more value than Wilson.  Roy Halladay is getting $20M per season so Darvish is being valued in Halladay's class.

That is a lot of risk to take on a big contract, for a pitcher.  I have to assume that the Jays had multiple scouts see Darvish, other than AA's trip.

Maybe the process should include a "Buy Now" option:

Shuuto highly recommended. 30 day delayed payment. A+++++ seller. Would post again!

Fangraphs had a crude, yet interesting analysis on worth of Darvish.

They though comps ranged from Cueto on the low side and King Felix on the high side.  They essentially asked the question of what would Jordan Zimmerman or Yovanni Gallardo, as 25 year-olds entering their prime, receive in the open market if they were free agents today.

Anthopoulous speaks

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=382876

Hard to know how to read into this.  He makes it clear signing Yu is a risk but also says if you do your homework....

As many have said, the current posting process is silly. I think a simple fix would be that the posting team says 'this is the minimum bid'

I don't like the idea of the winning team getting all their money back if they are unable to come to terms with the player.  I also don't like the idea of the Japanese team keeping any of the bid if the player does not come to terms with the MLB team.  Both reek of possible collusion or bidding to avoid the competition from getting the player (although I don't know how many teams would do the later...certaintly I don't think AA would).

My suggestion would be that the MLB team gets all of their money they posted back but that the entire bid (or a portion of it) count towards their soft cap number when computing their luxury tax limits.

If this is true, get us a LHP for the bullpen and get ready for the season.  One more bat would be nice, but not necessary.

Assuming we did bid big on Darvish, am I one of the few who is excited regardless of whether we win or lose?

Why- because it shows that nothing has changed from AA’s stated strategy, and that the vague “payroll parameters” comment is nothing more than an atypical slip up. Every sport team on earth has parameters; his comment didn’t necessarily mean the strategy had changed.

The strategy was to build a team that is highly competitive for a long time, and spend more when the time is right.  Being old enough to remember not just the WS wins, but the glory years of 1983 to 1994, I gotta tell you the strategy makes a lot of sense.

And AA’s actions this offseason show this strategy continues:

·         Highly competitive for a long time means filling key roles with young stars with upside and contract certainty. So why be surprised he’d trade for Santos rather than opt for an established but older closer. Why not target Darvish or Gonzalez rather than Buerle

·         Win or lose, as long as the Darvish bid was competitive, the willingness to spend now has likely been proven.

If we get Darvish, I expect a middle of the line up bat will still come. Doubt Fielder, but who knows. Beltran, may be, but only if AA is comfortable with a shorter term fix (and where do we play him). More likely, he’ll search for another Rasmus/Lawrie clone, an “out of favour” youngster with upside that he can trade for.

If we don’t get Darvish, I would bet on a free agent bat and a Gonzalez like trade.

AA, you’re usually media savvy, so I’ll give you a mulligan on the PP comment. But only if you prove me right….

We don't want anybody claiming duress.

There might be a few heart attacks around here.

I still think that if we get Darvish, it is because of the way his budget works.  He can get money for 1 time instances like this, but cannot get long term money needed for people like Fielder and Pujols.

The fact he doesn't give up draft choices means that he cares about long term competitiveness of the club.  With key peices like Romero, Darvish, Lawrie,etc in place, the stocked minor league system can help fill the remaining positions (via promotion or trade).

AA has a plan, and I think he is real pragmatic on making sure he sticks to it. 

John

I firmly believe the choice of Starter determines how soon this team contends.   It will take much longer with an "out of favor" pitcher, and for the upside A.A. needs, might be expensive.   We are entering the flow / flood of Pitchers arriving from the minors starting possibly mid-season, if not earlier.   My question is, "Do we block one of our own with an 'out of favor' Pitching acquisition?"   I would prefer a pitcher of Romero's caliber or better (less doubt).  This would give the Team a solid 1-2 in the Rotation, with less pressure on Morrow (#3), and Alvarez (#4) to develop.   The will be enough pressure on #5 Starter to keep the job, let alone just earn it.

It explains the Santos over Madson choice.   It also explains some of A.A's acquisitions.

The Darvish bid might have come from corporate HQ at Rogers - maybe for non-baseball reasons Rogers wants to increase it's name brand in Japan - maybe it wants to be involved in business ventures (or already has) and see the Darvish link as a cheap way to increase it profile 

 Also, I remember reading in Dice K's 1st season that Japanese companies were buying up the banner space behind home plate to advertise  -  they were buying road games because the Red Sox were sold out @ 300 grand/half innings - The Jays are no Red Sox, lets be conservative and say they are able to sell those spots to Japanese companies @ 50grand/half innings during Darvish home starts and only for the first 6 innings (assuming the time Darvish may be pitching) - that's still 600 grand @ 16 home starts = 9.6 Mil - that's not counting Darvish jersey sales etc. in Japan

So even though an outlay of maybe 20mil/year for a guy who may be a 2/3 starter in the AL east is expensive - if you can mitigate those cost with some new revenue streams, then you can justify the cost.

I think if we get Darvish and Beltran, we could almost certainly acquire another starter like Gio or Danks.  I think they'd opt for the cheaper Danks, but who know.  But Thames or Snider as well as Cecil becomes expendable in that scenario.  I think a package of Thames, Cecil, McGuire and another mid-range prospect could land Danks.

A rotation of Romero-Darvish-Danks-Morrow-Alvarez would be kinda deadly. 

Or maybe Snider, Thames, Alvarez and Cecil for Gonzalez and Bailey.  (Sub Gio and Dustin into the above rotation for Danks and Alavarez.)

Oh the excitement of this time of year! 

Got this from the NY Daily News:

The Yankees are concerned about Darvish’s ability to make the transition to the majors, the source said, specifically the difference between the baseballs themselves, which are larger here than they are in Japan.

Another concern is the workload that starters take on in the majors, pitching every fifth day rather than once per week as they do in Japan’s Pacific League, where Darvish has played since 2007. Darvish did post impressive numbers last season — he was 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA and 276 strikeouts in 232 innings — but nobody knows how his stuff will translate. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-yankees-doubts-japanese-pitcher-yu-darvish-article-1.990582#ixzz1gkhkzv69

it is going to be interesting to see now what happend in 4-5 with Alvarez-drabek-Cecil-McGowan and ??.  We still have Hutchinson, McGuire, etc knocking on the door.  When I say interesting, I am not just talking this year.  In 2013, that staff could be ....  crazy good. 

Well ComebyDeanChance, Thanks for your post.

As per Carlos Beltran, go here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/beltrca01.shtml and by the way there was a Toronto and a Montreal then.

At the time of the MLSE sale, Prime Time Sports had Nadir Mohamed and Keith Pelley on: http://www.fan590.com/ondemand/media.jsp?content=20111209_163141_15692 (on Radio and TV) to talk about the sale.   Near the end, Host Bob McCown asked Nadir to speak to Alex about asking for more money...despite what was said, there was a look that passed that indicated more would be done.   Something I'd seen before.   So it's possible the 'Higher-Ups' pushed A.A. on this a bit.

As to your posting in total, I disagree that MLB gives the winning Team the 'heads up', too much chance of a leak as too many people know.   Old saying, three people can keep a secret if two are dead.

In case someone doesn't understand: http://www.quora.com/How-does-the-posting-system-work-in-Nippon-Professional-Baseball and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_system and http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-rangers/post/_/id/4876537/how-the-posting-system-works-for-darvish explain it as well.  We as posters don't use less of our brain when we're on this site, we're basically lazy.

As I stated before I too am not buying all the buzz about the Jays winning the Darvish sweepstakes.  I still think the Cubs may have the highest bid (they are too quiet) or a team nobody has confirmed didn't bid like the Tigers or Philies.  There are just too many surprises lurking.  To me the most supportive signal that suggests that the Jays may have a chance is the claim that Rogers instructed AA to spend whatever it takes (or something to that degree).

With all the buzz of a "moster bid" I wonder what is more unlikley; the Nippon-Ham Fighters rejecting the bid all together, the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup this year, or the Jays signing both Darvish and Fielder?

Alvarez and Snider in that deal would be proceeded by something along the lines of d'Arnaud, Syndergaard, Marisnick and Gose.

If the Jays ever did that I think I would go into a spiraling state of depression followed by a heart attack. Ok maybe not but I would be a lousy husband and father for a day or two.

I don't follow hockey or the Leafs, but I'd guess the Leafs coming through is well and away the most likely of the three.

I am a die hard Leafs fan (condolences acceptd) but still think that them winning the cup is less likely than the Jays getting both guys. I think signing Fielder and Darvish is more likely (although close to never going to happen status) then either the Leafs winning the Cup in 2012 or Fighters rejecting the bid.

Still, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2009 that the New York Yankees generated $20-million in sponsorships with Japanese companies because of Hideki Matsui’s presence. And using figures provided by Forbes magazine, the Hardball Times showed that in Ichiro Suzuki’s rookie season, the Seattle Mariners saw revenue jump by $27-million from the previous year, compared to a $6-million increase for the five teams that had been closest to the Mariners in 2000.

Club performance played a role, but the bottom-line analysis was that Japanese players who make an impact – Ichiro, Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka, a free-agent pitcher who signed with the Boston Red Sox – could be worth an extra $11-million in revenue a season to their clubs.

You can see how this would grab the attention of the Blue Jays’ owners, Rogers Communications. Sports-specialty channels, cellphones, magazines, sports teams. Japan. Added revenue. Pitching. It hints at a textured move and a bold affirmation of ownership’s financial and emotional investment at a time when there is a belief the Blue Jays might be relegated to the corporate hind teat.

Reds are also giving up Yasmani Grandal(C) and Brad Boxberger(RHP). Both are former 1st round or supp picks by the Reds (Grandal takes 12th overall in 2010 year and Boxberger 43rd overall in 2009) but both were also 20th rounders or later when initially taken in a previous draft. Last years Baseball America Prospect Handbook (issued Jan 2011) had Grandal ranked as the Reds 6th best prospect and Boxberger #18. They had Alonso(1B/OF) at #4.

I think a more comparable offer from the Jays would have been (with Baseball America rankings from jan 2011 in brackets which I realize now have changed): Morrow, D'Arnaud(C #5), Cooper (1B #21), and Nicolina (LHP #20),

If we didn't have Lind at 1B I would have considered that deal.

If we didn't have Lind at 1B I would have considered that deal.

Ignore this last point I made.  It makes no sense because I realize in such a deal we would still need Lind.  Thinking it over I would not make that deal if I were the Jays.  Both Morrow and D'Arnaud have way too much upside.

Frequent and valued Box guest Jamey Newberg, the premier Rangers blogger on The Internets, has this from part of this morning's edition of his e-mail newesletter:

Let`s evaluate the Mat Latos package S.D. received in the trade.

Yonder Alonzo (25) is Travis Snider (at 22) in 2010.   Alonso is also Blocked., and rapidly losing prospect status.

Edison Volguez (28) is, maybe Brett Cecil (25).   Reds don`t see him as a Top 3 Starter.

Yasmani Grandal (23) is closer to Yan Gomes (24) and A.J. Jiminez (21) than Travis d`Arnaud (22).

Brad Boxberger (23) is a Reliever with a half year (27.1 IP) in AAA.   We`ve got that too, our`s are called Starters.

Cincinnati didn`t really pay that much, so a Gio deal is doable.

a 27-year-old starter with persistent control issues (Volquez),

... who cost the Reds some guy named Josh Hamilton ...!!!

As per SI.com

"Contrary to published reports, the top sealed bid submitted for star Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish on Wednesday was the highest in the history of the posting process, exceeding the record $51.1 million fee that the Boston Red Sox paid the Seibu Lions for the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2006, according to Japanese league officials.

Though the identity of the major league franchise that won exclusive negotiating rights to the 25-year-old right-hander has yet to be revealed, Japanese league officials say that the offer to Darvish's team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, is higher than the $40-48 million range that has been reported in the U.S. and Japan."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/12/17/yu.darvish/index.html#ixzz1gpnKEknI

Add me to the list of people who don't get the love for Yonder Alonso. He's Lyle Overbay or Casey Kotchman or Brett Wallace/David Cooper clone. From what I've seen (admittedly not much) he doesn't add THAT much value at 1B like a Grace, Joyner, or Olerud. 

I do think Volquez will put up good numbers at Safeco, but really I don't see this as an elite package. 

I mentioned ways to recoup the Darvish Posting / Signing here: http://www.battersbox.ca/users.php?mode=profile&uid=9081 .

While looking at the Latos trade, I was trying to estimate what it would cost us for the trade.   I was comparing Catcher for Catcher; Starter for Starter; Reliever for Pitcher, and possible Failed Prospect for Guess.    Alonzo was 1B/OF/? as they tried to find a place for him.   He was starting to look like a 'bat without of a position', and that position might not be 1st Base.   He was majorly Blocked, and not very good anywhere else.   Look at the evaluation of the trade: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/reds-acquire-mat-latos-for-alonso-others.html before you jump all over a difficult task.

Top business men in Japan have been known to keep NY Stock Market time.   Others have been known to arrive at work at 4 AM, 5AM, even 6AM.  

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Top Bid to be in excess of $70.0 MM.   And I expect A.A. to have bid that much.

Merry Christmas http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=merry+christmas&hl=en&sa=G&biw=1440&bih=710&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=RwlYlkBsTe8THM:&imgrefurl=http://hx-custom-roms.com/merry-xmas-2.html&docid=HEVSsyL2sOjd6M&imgurl=http://hx-custom-roms.com/wp-content/Merry-Christmas.jpg&w=390&h=290&ei=QnXtTqfeFurx0gGdz-WlCQ&zoom=1

This Darvish stuff is starting to drive me crazy, all the conflicting reports. I just want some kind of resolution.

The reports are conflicting because nobody knows who made the highest bid nor do they know all the teams that bid.  Common sense and probability should tell us that the Jays are not likely the highest bidders.  If they were then the liklihood of them winning the bid would have to be higher than all of the other teams combined.  If I had to choose between the winning bid being made by the Jays or anyone from a list that includes Texas, Chicago, or one of the 20 or so teams that have kept mum about their bids I would pick the later.  There really is just no reliable info that would suggest a Blue Jay fan should feel that the chances are better than 50/50.  So you know what, lets be realists and assume we don't get him.  Then what?

First off Rogers and Anthopoulous should anticipate a large number of angry fans.  Why do I say this?  Because they would have to be complete morons not to see the level of fan anticipation and interest building.  So being intellegent business people they needed to put policy aside and long ago made the appropriate comments to temper fan anticipation, it is much to late to do so now.  If however they truely feel that they made a competitive bid that keeps them in the game then one can't blame them for staying quiet.  But I am telling you right now that if it comes out that they did not bid or made a bid less than $40 million or so then I am going to be seriously pissed (for lack of a better word).

It is the belief that we have a very smart group running the Jays plus the fact they must already know the unacceptably steep cost needed to acquire front of the rotation starting pitchng that gives me some hope we may be closer in this thing then I anticipate.  All the other reasons being reported that support the notion the highest bid belongs to the Jays is about 90% meaningless in my eyes. 

I say again that I really think it is the Cubs.  Theo has bid large and he is too quiet to think he hasn't.  If it is then I only ask that the Jays stay away from Gio.  If he has the most walks in the AL over the past two years just wait and see how bad those numbers look when he has to face the ultra patient Yankees and Red Sox about 5 times a year.  In the end losing out on Darvish may end up netting us Fielder especially if the Cubs committ the money to Yu and create one less competitor.  I am sure there are a slew of deals ready so things will get interesting for the Jays regardless.  It does not have to Darvish just a respectable bid.  But.....I still want Darvish.

First off Rogers and Anthopoulous should anticipate a large number of angry fans.  Why do I say this?  Because they would have to be complete morons not to see the level of fan anticipation and interest building

1.The average Jays fan has no idea who Yu is.

2.  Good GM's don't make moves to appease fans

As for the timing of the announcement, why would the Japanese team want to put the fact they are losing their best pitcher in Prime time?  Its like my Oilers being proud to announce they have sold Wayne Gretzky to a team that paid the most cash. 

Alvarez and Snider in that deal would be proceeded by something along the lines of d'Arnaud, Syndergaard, Marisnick and Gose.

My package may have been light, but yours is beyond ridiculous.  5 of the Top 100 prospects in baseball, plus Snider, for Gio and Bailey???  Uh, ok.  I`m not sure anyone`s ever been traded for such a haul.

Melondough, you may be out of luck...

I truely hope so.  If that report is accurate then I am feeling so much better about our chances.  All of these reports may prove to be way off base.  In the end it wouldn't be suprising to see the Yankees win the bid.  Until a high ranking offical goes on record to say they did not bid or that they bid low then I am not buying any of it.  As a Jays fan I have been burned too many times on rumors.  I am not pesimisitc but I am very very guarded and will continue to be until their first big splash indicates a change of direction.

Kenny Ken Ken `power of the written word` Rosenthal has tweeted that the Jays were a finalist for Latos.

My biggest concern on Latos is that the Padres were shopping him.

If, as reported in this: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/al-east-rumors-latos-blue-jays-rays-red-sox.html , Toronto was after Latos in can only mean one of two things.  

1) The Blue Jays know they didn't win the Darvish Posting.   In that case, A.A. had better go all out to trade for a top Starter; or,

2) Alex Anthopoulos has little confidence in any Starter we have, not named Ricky Romero, and feels acquring two top Starters is necessary.

I seriously doubt it. Nobody but a hardcore baseball fan will know that Wojciechowski ranks below Syndergaard or McGuire ranks below Norris (at least in terms of upside). It may hurt the PR a bit on a trade of Latos for San Diego to not be able to say that they acquired Cincinnati's best prospect, but the casual fan just knows the team's best pitcher has been traded for prospects and the hardcore fans recognize it was a relatively strong haul for Latos, if perhaps devoid of really high upside talent.

The GM is going to be evaluated on a trade - if he's still in the job - three or four years down the road in that type of deal. He's not going to be evaluated based on how the public reacts when he can't say he received Toronto's best pitching prospect.

If I understand the process correctly (which is no guarantee), doesn't nobody but a select number of people in the comssioner's office know who won the Darvish bidding? Doesn't the winning team get notified only once the NPB teams accepts the bid? Therefore, pulling out of the Latos negotiations or failing to meet San Diego's asking price was likely not premised on anything relating to Darvish, as the best AA could do at this point would be to guess as to whether the team had won the bidding. At which point the Jays would still have to agree on a contract with Darvish.

https://twitter.com/#!/MLBreports

They are saying word is total package would be in the $140M range (how would they know this?)

Anyone know if this is a realiable source?  At first I thought it was directly off the MLB website but this Twitter account is called "MLBreports".  Still how do they know?  Waiting for others to mention it on their twitter account.   Anyone see others reporting?  Sorry if I jumped the gun but it looks like legit news.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I also disagree with that proposition. Other GMs may be inclined to want Toronto's top prospects, but I think most GMs want a fair trade, which they perceive benefits their team, at the end of the day. If the best offer is from Toronto and includes Wojciechowski and Knecht instead of Syndergaard and Marisnik, I see no reason the other GM wouldn't take it once it became clear AA or others GM weren't going to include more.

It's not academic. The Blue Jays, in all likelihood, haven't been in contact with Darvish's representatives (I assume that such contact would be prohibited before being given permission to negotiate), so the rough parameters of a contract are probably still largely unknown. There's a point where Darvish doesn't make economic sense for the Blue Jays, even if the club is willing to break the bank to sign him. The Blue Jays get back the posting fee back if they're unable to reach an agreement, and Darvish can be posted again at some point in the future. Either side can potentially walk away if the deal on the table isn't satisfactory. To say that signing Darvish is academic when the Blue Jays wouldn't have even had a chance to speak to the guy is a significant overstatement.

Keep in mind that the signing of Darvish would also be contingent on him passing a physical. If the Blue Jays see a red flag somewhere, all bets are potentially off.

Mat Latos is a 24 year-old starter with 2+ quality years in the majors and four years away from free agency. With or without Darvish he would make the team better, if the price was right. Outside of Romero, the rotation isn't exactly stocked with a consistent and dependable group of arms at the moment. Having a young, deep rotation wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have.

Is it true that Mike Hargrove is in charge of making the announcement as to which team has won the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tGm_JajqLo

I am 100% confident that the Jays but in the highest bid for Yu Darvish. One thing that has stuck with me during the AA reign is that when he drafted Beede and lost him, he essentially said that as long as he drafted Beede, none of his other competitors would have him for at least 3 years.

That being said, signing Darvish isn't a guarentee. AA will pay him the number that he feels he is worth, and not more a la Beede. Getting the highest bid ensures that no one else will have him for at least one year and at the same time, next year's highest bidder will have to pay more than AA, assuming he wins the bid, paid.

All in all, I think we get him signed if we win the bid but I just wanted to put that out there.

I woudn't take too much stock is Bruce Arthur's column. I like Bruce, he's a funny guy on twitter and all, but his columns are generally more opinionated than anything.

In other news via Rotoworld:

The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters will announce the winner of the Yu Darvish sweepstakes Monday night (U.S. time).

The thing that everyone forgets about Darvish is that he could attract a lot of new fans(Japenese) to the Jays.  With Ichiro gettting ready to retire soon, Japan will need a new sensation.  Unlike any other free agent available, he will generate money.  (Fielder will make the existing fan base happier, but not expand it like Darvish).

Another point to add to this...the Blue Jays are CANADA's team and there's a HUGE asian population in Vancouver. It's been rumoured, in Vancouver, that Roger's will eventually acquired the naming rights to the newly renovated BC Place Stadium. And it's also been rumoured that the Blue Jays have eyes on hosting a regular season series in Vancouver. Don't be surprised if this is all tied in together either. No better way to sellout a 56,000 seat stadium each game in Vancouver than with Yu. Obviously this is a small reason why to get Yu Darvish.

Being from Vancouver, I'd love for this to eventually happen.

On the other hand, there is are probably more closet baseball fans who need to wake up in Canada than there are potential new Japanese fans.  Prince Fielder, because of both skills and lineage, would do a much better job of getting the attention of the dormant Jays fans. 

Of course signing both of them would be synergistic in attracting fans.

btfsplk325 - Monday, December 19 2011 @ 01:21 PM EST (#249200) #
"Another point to add to this...the Blue Jays are CANADA's team and there's a HUGE asian population in Vancouver."

I don't know, but I'll bet the Japanese and Japanese-Canadians are a tiny fraction of the Asian population in Canada. Anyone who lumps Japanese, Chinese and Koreans into an amorphous group rooting for Darvish should read up a little on the history of wars and conflicts in Asia. The Chinese and Koreans will have memories that have been passed down through generations. All orientals may look alike to Whiteys but they aren't the same. Besides, do New Zealanders root for Australians? Do Serbs root for Croats? Does England root for France? Or, closer to home, do Canadians root for Americans?

Thanks for the history lesson. I can now drop my world history class next semester...

Toronto has a tiny Japanese community, 11,000 or so. New York on the other hand, offers a far larger Japanese community

Can we stay away from mentioning the size of the Japanese population as a reason to pursue Darvish? From the latest census #s I can find, the Toronto GTA has approx. 20,000 Japanese people and NYC has approx. 37,000. Neither of these numbers are significant in the discussion.

Or, closer to home, do Canadians root for Americans?

Does Flushing root for the Bronx? Anaheim for Chavez Ravine?

Bud Selig Twitter saying Jays won at $52M.  This twitter has 11,000 followers.  IS THIS FOR REAL?????

https://twitter.com/#!/BudSeIig

Bud Selig Twitter saying Jays won at $52M.  This twitter has 11,000 followers.  IS THIS FOR REAL?????

https://twitter.com/#!/BudSeIig