"Yu Darvish is coming to Texas. At least the Rangers are the only MLB team he can play for next season.

MLB announced late Monday night that the Rangers won the negotiating rights for the star Japanese right-hander. Yahoo! Sports reported the bid to be a record $51.7 million.

Now, Texas has a 30-day window to negotiate a contract with the 25-year-old Darvish. If a deal can't be reached, the Rangers will not pay the posting fee.

"The Texas Rangers are pleased and excited to have acquired the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish," the team said in a statement. "Our organization has scouted Mr. Darvish for the last several years and has been very impressed with his abilities and accomplishments. We believe he would be a great addition to the Texas Rangers pitching staff.

"We look forward to the next step of this process in the very near future with Mr. Darvish and his representatitves, Arn Tellem and Don Nomura.""