National Post Sports

Yu Darvish a big gamble for MLB teams
Yu Darvish stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 215 pounds. He throws three different fastballs and three breaking pitches. For five straight seasons, he has logged ERAs below 2.00. His strikeout-to-walk ratio over the last four seasons has been roughly 4.4-1. He breaks a lot of bats.

His movie-star countenance graces billboards and commercials across Japan. He has posed nude for a women’s magazine. Currently, Japanese tabloids are revelling in his divorce from his actress wife.

Darvish has already become a household name among North American baseball fans, even before they know where — or even if — he will play in the major leagues next season. And among diehard followers of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yu-buzz has surged in the past few days.

The online rumour mill, citing the usual unnamed sources, puts the Jays in the thick of the bidding for the 25-year-old pitcher, by all accounts the best pitching prospect ever to seek his freedom from Japanese professional baseball. (Photo: Jeff Bottari/Getty Images)