The 4 p.m. deadline to sign Yu Darvish arrives in two hours, and the Rangers and the agents for the right-hander are closing in on a deal that will span five years with a player option for a sixth year.
Major-league sources confirmed the length of the contract, and another said that the financial terms are more friendly to the Rangers than had been anticipated from the outset of the 30-day process to get the Japanese ace signed. The Rangers still have to pay a $51.7 million posting fee to Darvish's team in Japan, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
Club brass and Darvish's agents, Arn Tellem and Don Nomura, resumed negotiations this morning after working past midnight Tuesday. While the principal negotiators are in agreement, some in the Darvish camp aren't satisfied with the final dollar figures.
But the Rangers, according to the sources, are confident that the deal will be finalized before 4 p.m.
-- Jeff Wilson
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