Wednesday, December 14, 2011
NY Post: Yankees play it cool as Darvish deadline nears
No matter how strong the signals coming from The Bronx about the Yankees not being hot for Yu Darvish, others will believe it when there is proof.
“They need him and when the Yankees need something they make a play for it,’’ one team executive predicted yesterday.
Yet, voices throughout the Yankees’ organization paint a lukewarm — at best — picture of them going hard after the 25-year-old Japanese right-hander major league teams can put in a posting bid for until 5 p.m. today.
The team with the winning bid, if it’s accepted by the Nippon Ham Fighters, gets a month to exclusively negotiate with Darvish.
Estimates have the winning bid in the $30 million range and Darvish commanding a five-year deal worth $75 million. Of course, the Yankees could submit a low bid and hope they win. That way they would control the process without outside interference.
I’d be surprised if the winning bid was for $30 million. I think some rogue team will at least approach the Matsuzaka winning bid. I don’t think it will be the Yankees, and while I’m hoping they win the bid and sign Darvish, the truth is he’s a risk and we have no idea how good he may end up being.
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