Pictured together here during the 2009 World Baseball Classic, pitchers Yu Darvish & Masahiro Tanaka are the two latest stars from Japan to dissent to Major League Baseball.
Earlier today, the biggest name in the Major League Baseball free agent market finally found his landing spot. Japanese import right handed pitcher Masahiro Tanaka signed with the New York Yankees for a massive 7-year, $155 million deal. There were questions of whether he would be allowed to leave by his Japanese team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, in order to migrate to the United States. However, under the new posting system agreement the team who signed him was required to pay a $20 million fee. This is a revised system, as we’ve seen pitchers such as Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston, 2007) and Yu Darvish (Texas, 2012) receive posting bids as high as $51.7 million simply for the exclusive rights to negotiate with him.
Perhaps, this revised posting system is the reason for Tanaka’s massive payday. More on that in just a bit.
During the winter before the 2012 offseason, the Texas Rangers signed Darvish, another Japanese import, to a 6-year, $56 million deal. As mentioned above, Texas shelled out $51.7 million for the exclusive rights to negotiate with Darvish. This means, in total, they shelled out $107.7 million for the (at the time) 24 year old pitcher from the Nippon Ham Fighters.
My central question, as stated in the title: is Tanaka seriously worth nearly $100 million more than Darvish?
Before answering that, let’s compare some of their statistics from Japan’s Pacific League, where they both played for seven seasons. As you will see, the numbers are remarkably similar.
- Darvish: 167 games (164 starts) — 93-38, 1.99 ERA, 55 complete games/18 shutouts, 1,268.1 innings pitched, 916 hits allowed, 281 earned runs, 58 home runs allowed. 1,250 / 333 strikeouts/walks, 50 hit-by-pitch/36 wild pitches. 0.99 WHIP (walks + hits per innings pitched), 6.5 hits-per-9 innings, 2.4 walks-per-9, 8.9 strikeouts-per-9, 3.75 strikeouts-per-walk.
- Tanaka: 175 games (172 starts) — 99-35, 2.30 ERA, 53 CG/18 SO, 1,315.0 IP, 1,182 H, 336 ER, 66 HRA, 1,238/275 K/BB, 31 HBP/40 WP, 1.11 WHIP, 8.1 H/9, 1.9 BB/9, 8.5 K/9, 4.50 SO/BB.
(note Tanaka’s statistics are simply abbreviated for the sake of running on)
There’s no doubt that both of these pitchers were dominant in Japan’s most highly competitive league. As mentioned, both pitched for seven seasons there. At their time of the jump to MLB, both were at age 24. When comparing Tanaka to Darvish this past off-season, many scouts and “experts” alike believed that Darvish is the more talented pitcher of the two.
So what gives with the difference in money? Yes, Tanaka did sign on for one more season in New York than did Darvish in Texas. It’s also definitely true that the money market in New York is much bigger than it is in Arlington. There are also no taxes in Texas, while there are in New York. Still, none of that accounts for the monetary difference in which the two are being paid.
It comes within the new structure of the posting system. As mentioned previously, the Rangers paid $51.7 million US Dollars for the rights to negotiate with Darvish. That money went straight into the pockets of the Nippon Ham Fighters. Under the old system, the Japanese franchise giving up the player was the primary beneficiary of it. They stood to make the most money. As a result, the Major League team signing the player had no other MLB teams to get into a bidding war with once they won the negotiating rights to the player.
Under the new system, the team who the player (in this case Tanaka) chooses to sign with is required to pay a standard $20 million posting fee to the team who released him. This puts the money into the hands of the player, because a more prototypical free agent bidding process was allowed to take place. The result: Masahiro Tanaka had at least four teams (the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels and Chicago Cubs) all vying very hard for his services. The end result was an all-out bidding war between those teams, all of which had the money to spend on the top free agent of this year’s off-season. Ultimately, Tanaka chose to go to the Big Apple. Since he’s making, individually, a substantial amount more money than his predecessors, he will have even more pressure on his shoulders. It’s also possible, as Boston fans saw with Matsuzaka as time progressed, that Tanaka’s ego may become inflated over that monetary value. That story is one that is left to be determined over the next seven years.
So to respond to the question posted in the title, the answer is a resounding no. Darvish amassed an earned run average nearly half a run lower, threw more complete games, allowed less hits and home runs. He had a higher strikeout rate with less walks plus hits allowed per innings pitched. While Tanaka’s control and Won/Loss record are slightly better, the numbers indicate that Darvish is the more dominant of the two.
However, thanks to the revised posting system, Tanaka is the one who will be cashing a check nearly two-and-a-half times the size of Darvish’s for the next four years (while Darvish is still under his original contract).
Anybody else think that Yu Darvish is going to start looking to renegotiate his current deal?
Scott on Sports 