Darvish Asks To Be Posted

From The Mainichi Daily News:

The Yu Darvish sweepstakes are set to begin.

Nippon Ham Fighters ace Darvish, long said to be Japanese baseball's next biggest export to the majors, is ready to make a move stateside through the posting system this offseason, Kyodo News learned through several sources on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Darvish, the highest paid player in Japanese baseball at an estimated 500 million yen per season, is expected to officially ask the Fighters to put him up for bidding after the postseason.

...

The Fighters are likely to grant Darvish his request.

"If he wants to play at a higher level, then that's his wish," Nippon Ham owner Hiroji Okoso said.

"It's really up to him," a source at the team said. "That was the conclusion they reached after a series of talks."

Darvish went 18-6 in 28 starts with a 1.44 ERA, 261 K and 35 BB in 223 innings pitched. It was also the fourth straight year that Darvish posted a sub-2.00 ERA.