Over the last few years, there have been a number of Japanese players that have made the transition overseas to play in the big leagues. Ichiro has been the player with the most success of any of these players, and the others have been met with varying degrees of production. Although the jury is still out on some of the players like Tsuyoshi Nishioka of the Twins, its unlikely that guys like Daisuke Matsuzaka will ever reach the level of expectations they had originally.

However, a lack of production has literally no effect on their value to collectors, as people in the eastern part of the world have shown they will pay for anything associated with these players.

Check out some of the prices that are on past players of this pedigree:

Daisuke Matsuzaka Ultimate Collection Auto

Hideo Nomo Leaf Fabric of the Game Auto

Ichiro Suzuki Leaf Valliant Auto

Yu Darvish is the most recent player to make the jump, and the Texas Rangers paid dearly to have him on their roster. Darvish supposedly has a 7 pitch arsenal that can be thrown for strikes, and is young enough to adapt with the game. He shined in international competition, but it is still a question of whether he is will be worth the money.

Here are some autographs to judge his current worth:

Yu Darvish Signed Baseball PSA Auth

Yu Darvish Signed Baseball Cut Card from BBM

Here is the card from 2010 Bowman:

Yu Darvish Gold Refractor /50

Topps has completed the exclusive deal that everyone knew was coming, and I honestly believe it was the right choice. Darvish will add huge prospective value to Topps’ 2012 calendar, especially in products like Bowman and the like.

They will also have on card autographs in higher end products like Topps Tribute and other products of this type, which will mean a lot of added value for collectors who will be buying these packs. Although its obvious that Darvish’s future is far from certain, but at least we know his autographs will carry a ton of weight for the foreseeable future.