One pitcher signed to a contract Wednesday was born on Aug. 16, 1986. Another pitched in 19 games before that date.
It's an odd couple, but Yu Darvish and Jamie Moyer both agreed to pitch this season on separate deals.
The Texas Rangers are paying the most a team has ever spent on a Japanese player through the posting process, agreeing to a six-year, $60 million deal with a 25-year-old potential ace in Darvish. The Rangers also had to pay a record a $51.7 million posting fee. That adds up to $11.7 million, and a lot of pressure, from a pitcher who was no doubt the best in Japan the last five years. He will fill the vacancy created when C.J. Wilson left for the Angels last month.
"The Rangers are getting an exceptional pitcher who has both the physical attributes and the mental makeup to be one of the great pitchers in baseball," said Darvish's agent, Arn Tellem, to the New York Times.
On the other end of the signing spectrum is a veteran with a minor-league deal. The Colorado Rockies signed Moyer, 49, who wants to give pitching another shot coming off arm surgery. It's a low-risk proposition for the Rockies - a minor-league deal with an invitation to the big-league camp in Arizona. Pitchers often see a boost in their velocity after the ligament transplant surgery, but that isn't likely to be the case for the lefty Moyer. No pitcher has ever tried to come back from the surgery at such an advanced age, either.
Moyer has won 267 big-league games. If Darvish wins half of that total, his big-league career will likely be considered a big success.
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