Through the posting process, the Texas Rangers won the rights to negotiate exclusively with Yu Darvish. They were then granted a 30-day window to settle on a contract. That window came with a deadline: Wednesday, January 18, at 5:00pm Eastern.

Prior to January 18, there was no contract. On January 18, there was concern that there would be no contract. But, officially, there is a contract. An agreement was reached right before the deadline. Because of course it was. There was really no other way that this was ever going to go.

Bob Nightengale:

The #Rangers make it official, six year deal for Darvish.

Jeff Wilson:

Rangers, Darvish agree for six years, approximately $60 million.

Additional reports put it at six years and $60 million, with another $10 million in possible bonuses. Darvish reportedly wanted a five-year contract so he could become a free agent sooner, but he clearly wasn't wedded to that idea.

So Darvish joins Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando as potential starters with the Rangers. Five of those players will begin the season as starters. It is a good group of starters, strengthened to a substantial degree by Darvish. In case you've forgotten, this is what Darvish has done:

He should be really good. The Rangers should be really good.