According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the Rangers have won exclusive negotiating rights for Yu Darvish with a record $51.7 million posting fee.
by Matt S.
It’s now official. The bid tops the previous posting fee record ($51,111,111) the Red Sox paid for exclusive negotiating rights with Daisuke Matsuzaka back in 2006. While recent buzz suggested that the Blue Jays were the favorites, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that the Rangers were the top bidders, as general manager Jon Daniels scouted Darvish in person this past season. The 25-year-old right-hander is believed to be seeking a five-year deal in the range of $75 million, which would push the total investment north of $120 million. If the two sides can come to an agreement in the next 30 days, Darvish will join a Texas rotation which will include some combination of Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, Alexi Ogando, Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz.