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Arn Tellem/Don Nomura Planning For Yu Darvish’s Posting

Some of the hottest baseball players who are eligible for free agency after the 2011 MLB season include Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes, and Albert Pujols (go here for a list of all 2012 MLB free agents).  However, one of the most sought after baseball players may be someone who is currently in MLB affiliated ball.  His name is Yu Darvish and he is from Japan.  He and his agents (Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group and Don Nomura) could soon be selling him to the highest bidder, as long as Darvish’s current team (the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan) posts him, which would allow him to be picked up by an MLB team.  Darvish would be exempt from the posting system if he had 9 or more years of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) service (which he does not).

The MLB posting system is an instrument that regulates the movement of players from the NPB to the MLB.  It effectively provides NPB teams a windfall for losing their best players to the United States.  Instead of NPB players having their choice of what MLB team to go to, MLB teams submit bids to merely win the right to negotiate with the NPB players for 30 days.  This negotiation in the 30 day window is where agents like Arn Tellem and Don Nomura really assist the player.  If a posted NPB player signs a contract with the MLB team in that 30 day window, the player’s former NPB team receives the money from the original bid, which earned the MLB team the limited exclusive right to negotiate with the player and his agents.  The Mariners made a bid of $13.125 million for Ichiro Suzuki and the Red Sox made a bid of $51.1 million for Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Darvish has an interesting background.  His mother is Japanese while his father is Iranian.  His parents met at a small liberal arts school in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Kazuhiro Sasaki of the Seattle Mariners and Takashi Saito of the Milwaukee Brewers went to Darvish’s high school.  Hideki Okajima of the Boston Red Sox and Yoshinori Tateyama of the Texas Rangers played for Darvish’s current professional team in Japan.  And Darvish just happens to be rocking the following numbers this year in the NPB: 1.56 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, and 0.20 HR/9.  He also will only be 25-years-old if/when he is posted.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.