The deadline for teams to bid on negotiating rights for 25-year-old Japanese right-handed power pitcher Yu Darvish ended earlier this evening.

But the mystery of who may have won those exclusive rights still remains unknown.

However, what we do know is that the offer is astronomical (possibly $150 million including the posting fee), and that while the Yankees, Rangers, Cubs and Blue Jays are the only known clubs to make a bid, the Giants, Athletics, Marlins, Mets,  Angels, Twins, Red Sox and Orioles are all out of the running, according to reports that appeared all over Twitter and multiple blog posts late Wednesday night.

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December 15, 2011 12:19 am via twitterfeedReplyRetweetFavorite

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MLB Trade Rumors

Now the U.S. commissioner's office will notify its Japanese counterpart of the amount of the highest bid, but will not reveal the identity of the club that made the offer.

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, with whom Darvish is employed,  will then have until 5 p.m. EST on December 20 to accept or reject the offer,  sending their answer back to the MLB who will announce the team that won the rights.

That club will have 30 days to agree to strike a deal, or Darvish will go back to Japan.

The 6-foot-5 Darvish who throws a fastball in the mid to upper-90s, was 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA and a league-leading 276 strikeouts in 232 innings last season, and has yet to post an ERA above 2.00 since 2007.

So will we be seeing Darvish in pinstripes next season? I guess will have to wait a little longer to find out.

The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the Cubs pursuit of Padres pitcher Jake Peavy has come to a close, at least according to Cubs manager, Lou Pinella.

Sweet Lou was quoted as saying "Starting we don't need. We're set. We've got six good starters, and they're all experienced. Getting Dempster back was the key. We're in good shape with our starting pitching."

Now I don't mean to call Lou's honesty into question here but do you mean to tell me the Cubs wouldn't prefer to replace Jason Marquis with Jake Peavy? They wouldn't like to replace a guy who's best ERA was 3.71 (from five years ago) with a guy who has averaged an ERA of 2.92 over the last 5 seasons? They wouldn't want to replace a start that's topped out at 138 strikeouts (also 5 years ago) with a guy that's averaged over 200 per season?

Give me a break! Now look, the Cubs might well have decided to start looking at other options to make their team better. The Peavy trade talks have been fairly stagnant for quite a while now. However, please don't try to sell my the BS line of not needing to upgrade your starting pitching. A rotation of Peavy, Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden would be one of the most potent rotations ever assembled and it's a heck of a lot deeper than a Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Marquis (or Marshall) rotation.

The game of baseball is fickle at times, and most teams (even the great teams) are just an injury or two away from dropping back to the rest of the pack or worse. After Zambrano's shaky finish last year are the Cubs really sure that his arm is going to be able to hold up? Can they really count on him as their ace this year? If Dempster were to go down with an injury who would eat those innings? Is there any reason to think that Harden will somehow learn to stay healthy after several injury shortened seasons?

My point is, starting pitching, especially GOOD starting pitching, is something you can never have too much of in this league. So, if I were the Cubs, I might keep trying to work out a deal to land one of the best pitchers in the league over the last 5 years. Oh, and the same goes for the Atlanta Braves that pulled this same "no longer interested" stunt last week.

Now here's the type of rumor I've been craving as we close in on the July 31st deadline:

Is Roy Halladay on the move?

Dan Graziano of the Star Ledger reports that the Toronto Blue Jays are quietly contacting teams (namely the Cardinals and Dodgers) to gauge interest and the possible returns for ace pitcher, Roy Halladay.

Graziano states:

Apparently, the returns other teams are getting for top-talent pitchers such as C.C. Sabathia, Rich Harden and Erik Bedard has inspired the Blue Jays to at least find out what it could get for one of the best pitchers in the American League. It remains unlikely that they'd deal him, but you never know.

The teams mentioned are the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers both teams that are "far, far away from the AL East."

Obviously acquiring a pitcher of Halladay's caliber would require a large package of players and prospects and would likely surpass the bounty Milwaukee paid for C.C. Sabathia. Not only is Halladay pitching incredibly well, compiling an 11-7 record with a 2.89 ERA, but he's also under contract until 2010, making him MUCH more appealing than a rental like Sabathia.

It would not at all be surprising for a package from either team to include their top rated prospects who had previously been labeled "untouchable" (Colby Rasmus for the Cardinals and Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers).

As a Cardinals or Dodgers fan, what would you want your team to give up to acquire Halladay?

The Cleveland Indians have dealt ace pitcher, and reigning Cy Young award winner, CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for a package of 4 prospects. The Brewers will now have one of the best 1-2 punches in the league by pairing Sabathia with ace Ben Sheets. However, the Brew Crew also gave up an impressive package for a player who is certainly just a rental (Sabathia will be a free agent at the end of the season). The Indians received:

Matt LaPorta
Rob Bryson
Zack Jackson
and a player to be named later (rumored to be Taylor Green)

LaPorta was said to be untouchable when the year began so the Indians certainly didn't give away their ace. LaPorta, a power hitter, was ranked as the 23rd best prospect overall last year by Baseball America.

The trade would seem to put the Brewers into the favorite roll (supplanting the St. Louis Cardinals) for the NL Wild Card if not for the NL Central title as well. However, the deal is also likely to trigger other trades now that a pitcher of Sabathia's caliber has been dealt. Look for the Cubs and or the Cardinals to try to respond with moves of their own.

Update:

Sabathia won his Brewer debut despite walking a season high 5 batters. He went 6 innings giving up 2 earned runs.