The Boston Red Sox won the bidding war for Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka yesterday with a bid that is reported to be around $51.1 million. So what does Boston get for that jack? The rights to negotiate a contract with Matsuzaka, the only WBC MVP in the history of the world. Matsuzaka, who hired Scott Boras to be his agent, and the Red Sox have 30 days to work out a deal, or he will be back across the Pacific pitching for the Seibu Lions again next year. What happens to the money if they don't make a deal? The Red Sox keep it. The boy wonder had this to say about his winning bid:
"We are pleased and excited to have acquired the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka," said Boston general manager Theo Epstein during a press conference held after the first full day of the annual MLB general managers' meetings. "We have long admired Mr. Matsuzaka's abilities and believe he would be a great fit as a member of our organization."
Boras is reportedly seeking a 3 year deal worth somewhere around $15 million per season.
"The licensing fee is certainly something that shows that this is a premium guy," he said. "That talent is going to help win on the field and he also brings off-the-field value to them as well. He's really a bulldog on the mound. I'm anxious to see how he transfers here. I don't know when that's going to be, but we'll see."
No word on any signing bonus or perks that may be expected as well. Do the math, it's a total of $96.1 million that will ultimately be shelled out for 3 years of pitching. And MLB wanted us all to believe that they were in financial difficulty just a few years ago. Right.
The Red Sox are reportedly seeking a more long term deal, and who can blame them? The way I currently see it, there are two lines of thought that could be coursing through Theo's little head right now:
1. Perhaps the Red Sox don't enter into this with good faith. What's to keep them from demanding a long term deal, as they should, and not even consider anything short term? So either they get him for 7 - 10 years, or they let him go back to Japan. A return to Japan would ultimately cost the Red Sox very little, and it would keep Matsuzaka from wearing pin stripes for at least one more season.
2. The Red Sox have more money than the Franklin Mint, and they are willing to pay essentially $32 million per season to Matsuzaka. That's about what it's going to cost if they only sign him to a 3 year deal. Maybe they can afford that, as I don't think the $51.1 counts against the cap and thus no luxury tax on top of it, but that's a lot of jack for a guy who hasn't thrown one ball in MLB and would only play one out of every 5 days (if healthy).
What does Red Sox Nation think about this? They have to wonder the logic in not offering the jack to Damon, but now to a mystery guy out of Japan. Here are the stats on Matsuzaka:
Year Team W L IP H ER BB K ERA
1999 SL (JPN) 16 5 180 124 52 87 151 2.60
2000 SL (JPN) 14 7 167⅔ 132 74 95 144 3.97
2001 SL (JPN) 15 15 240⅓ 184 96 117 214 3.60
2002 SL (JPN) 6 2 73⅓ 60 30 15 78 3.68
2003 SL (JPN) 16 7 194 165 61 63 215 2.83
2004 SL (JPN) 10 6 146 165 47 42 127 2.90
2005 SL (JPN) 14 13 215 172 55 49 226 2.30
2006 SL (JPN) 17 5 186⅓ 138 44 34 200 2.13
Granted, 200 strike out guys don't grow on trees, and neither do 2.13 ERAs. Does it warrant $32 million per season though? I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
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