Darvish, Texas agree to 6-year, $60M deal

On the last day possible -- just as these things usually go -- the Texas Rangers agreed to terms with Japanese righthander Yu Darvish on a six-year, $56-million contract Wednesday, with another $4 million attainable in roster bonuses.

The 6-5, 220-pound Darvish, 25, has starred for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. In 2011, he put up a league-best 1.44 ERA, striking out 276 and walking 36 in 232 innings. When the Fighters posted Darvish last month, the Rangers posted the winning bid of $51.7 million for the right to negotiate exclusively with the pitcher for a 30-day period. That window closed Wednesday at 5 o'clock Eastern Time.

In total, then, the Rangers committed more than $111 million for someone who has never thrown a pitch in Major League Baseball.

"We saw a guy that we felt was built to pitch innings and has a classic pitcher's build," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said at a news conference at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. "He has a real commitment to his conditioning and work ethic. We think he can pitch innings at a high caliber for a large amount of time."

Added Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher: "We're not going to spring training with these great expectations that he's going to shine over everybody else."

Rockies sign Moyer. Lefthander Jamie Moyer, 49, has agreed to terms on a minor-league contract with an invite to Colorado spring training. The 267-game winner didn't play last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. -- AP