After securing exclusive negotiating rights for Yu Darvish with a record $51,703,411 posting fee last month, the Rangers signed the 25-year-old right-hander to a six-year contract this week which guarantees him $56 million.
While everyone appears to be pleased with the outcome, Yu’s father, Farsad Darvish, told Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com following the press conference last night that he’s against the current posting system.
And why wouldn’t he say that? Just think of the contract Darvish would have signed if he was on the open market this winter? He was only allowed to talk to one team, which gives him little-to-no leverage in negotiations, and the posting fee undoubtedly had an impact on how much the Rangers were willing to pay him.
Darvish wasn’t set to become an unrestricted free agent until after the 2014 season, so this is mostly a fantasy. But many are unsatisfied with how the current posting system works. Some have proposed changes that would allow the top three bidders to negotiate with a player or possibly tie part of the posting fee into the player’s contract. This is all speculation for now and it doesn’t sound like change is necessarily around the corner, but MLB officials plan to discuss ways to improve the current system as part of ongoing meetings of the new International Talent Committee.
