Nippon Ham To Announce Darvish Winner Monday Night at 8-9 EST

MLB Trade Rumors has pointed out a couple of thwips this morning from Jon Morosi and Danny Knobler:

@jonmorosi wrote:

Nippon-Ham Fighters expected to accept bid for Yu Darvish around 8-9 pm ET tonight. Timing ideal – it will be Tuesday morning in Japan.

@DKnobler wrote:

Per Darvish agent @donnomura Fighters decision (they'll accept) and winning team will come tonight US time

Of course, an 8-9 pm eastern announcement tonight would be perfectly timed for the waking Japanese on Tuesday morning, subliminally reminding them of how great a few slices of Nippon Ham would be for breakfast. However, Don Nomura, Yu Darvish's agent, thipped that the announcement would come "late morning" in Japan--which means another possible late night for us Bluebird Banterers.

This is of course important to us because the speculation on the Interwebs is that our Toronto Blue Jays were ultimately the winner of this bidding contest, but tight lips from the clubs, MLB, and NPB have left it all as just plain rumours. Nomura was even asked if he knew who the winner was, and he replied "no".

Update: I had been trying to stay away as much as possible from the Yuletide Darvishtravaganza as much as possible to shield myself from possible disappointment, but this is getting too exciting to ignore. Here are a few stories you should read:

• Morosi explains to Americans the possible impact Darvish could have on baseball in the country, and introduces the Rogers Empire to our southern neighbours. (h/t to MjwW's fanshot)
• An MjwW original piece on what level of performance Darvish would have to achieve in order to be worth the potential amount of money that would be spent on acquiring him. Lots of charts and even includes a downloadable spreadsheet!
• Over at Grantland, Jonah Keri writes about Darvish's repertoire and the Blue Jays.

Any more links of substance you've read this weekend?