Yu Darvish's arrival in the U.S. signals yet another instance of baseball insiders and fans either salivating over or doubting the talents of an incredibly hyped foreign star.
The Texas Rangers certainly hope Darvish is worth the $100 million plus they paid to have him come stateside.
He could pan out like Ichiro or flame out like the last highly-priced Japanese pitcher to make the jump, Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Hideo Nomo is probably best known for introducing U.S. baseball fans to the wacky wind ups of Japanese pitchers, but he had three 15 win seasons. He's also the only pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter at hitter friendly Coors Field.
South Korean pitcher Chan Ho Park turned five good seasons as a Dodger into a ridiculous $65 million contract from the Texas Rangers. He ceased being productive from then on out.
Livan Hernandez came over from Cuba and got everyone in Miami excited about baseball. He was named the 1997 World Series MVP for the Marlins.
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