For years one of the most intriguing and captivating pitchers in the world has been working on the other side of the planet, where he developed into an icon of Japanese baseball. Now, Yu Darvish will take his talents to the United States, where he will try to make Texas Rangers fans forget about Cliff Lee and C. J. Wilson.

With only minutes to spare before an irrevocable deadline, the Rangers and Darvish agreed to a six-year contract on Wednesday, allowing Texas to add probably the most talented pitcher outside of Major League Baseball.