2008 has barely begun, Spring Training is more than a month away, and already the Internet is abuzz with word of the next great phenom who could be available to major league teams after this season.

That would be pitcher Yu Darvish, a 21-year-old Iranian-Japanese righthander. He won the 2007 Sawamura Award, Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award, after posting a 15-5 season with a 1.82 ERA.

How good can Darvish be? According to Wikipedia, Kansas City Manager Trey Hillman, former manager of Darvish’s team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, has said this.

“How good do I think he can be? I think he can be the best in the world. He’s not there yet … but I think he can potentially pass a guy like Matsuzaka.”

That, of course, would be Daisuke Matsuzaka, who cost the Boston Red Sox more than $100 million when he came to America last year with the reputation of being the greatest pitcher ever born.

Rumors out of Japan say the Yankees and several other teams have already expressed interest, …

ESPN.com is reporting that Jets’ defensive coordinator Bob Sutton will be fired and the soon-to-be-fired Raiders’ defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan, will be hired.

Ryan and Jets’ Head Coach Eric Mangini were defensive assistants together for four seasons in New England.

Both teams’ defenses struggled against the run in 2007. The Raiders finished 31st, allowing 145.9 yards per game. The Jets finished 29th, with 134.8 yards per game allowed.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.