Matsuzaka coming to US to play in MLB

[Ramy]

How about Don Blankenship of Massey coal? Oh wrong arena, he only advertises agains Political candidates out of his own pocket.

 

[Sean Mota]

According to ESPN (Peter Gammon) the Red Sox's bid is as high as $42million....

 

[Ramy]

According to ESPN (Peter Gammon) the Red Sox's bid is as high as $42million....

WOW that's alot of money just to be able to talk to him.

 

[Sean Mota]

WOW that's alot of money just to be able to talk to him.

And to think that these are the same people that Cry foul and "evil empire" when the Yankees buy players... what a bunch of hypocrites?

 

[Sean Mota]

here is more. We will know tonight.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/471181p-396558c.html

NAPLES, Fla. - The winning Red Sox bid just for the negotiation rights to Japanese pitching prodigy Daisuke Matsuzaka, according to my sources, is "upwards of $50 million." Numerous other sources around the general managers' meetings also confirmed the number yesterday, and being that nobody from MLB has expressed outraged "it ain't so" denials, we can only assume it probably is so.

50 million!!!!!!

Sources say the Mets finished second in the sweepstakes with a bid of around $38 million to Matsuzaka's team, the Seibu Lions, which, much to their shock and dismay, was a very distant second.

Not even the Yankees finished second...!!!! Big Surprise....

By bidding such an outrageous number, the Red Sox are essentially saying, in their minds, Matsuzaka is a No. 1 starting pitcher in the major leagues, worthy of more money than any pitcher in the history of the game, even though he's never thrown a single pitch in the majors. Because on top of that, they are going to have to negotiate a contract with Matsuzaka's agent, Scott Boras, who almost surely is going to tell them: "You've made it clear how highly you regard my client, now how about showing him the money."
You have to believe Boras' starting point with the Red Sox is going to be the $14.5 million per year, Houston's Roy Oswalt's industry benchmark deal for starting pitchers last year. Conceivably, the Red Sox would agree with that, except only in terms of the posting bid money as part of the overall contract. The only way one can imagine Boras agreeing to anything like that is if he is able to extract some of that $50 million from Seibu for his client, which is supposedly illegal under the terms of MLB's agreement with Japan.

But let's assume the Avenging Agent concedes it isn't realistic to establish a pitcher who's never pitched in the majors in the highest echelon salary structure and the Red Sox are able to do a deal for four years around $10 or $11 million per. That's still a blind commitment of upwards of $90-94 million which, factoring in the posting bid, would make Matsuzaka a $23-24 million-per-year pitcher.

Wow! an Alex Rodriguez type contract....

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Decisions like this one are a major reason the Red Sox have only won one titlein the last gazillion years. This is totally insane.

 

[sidekick]

Yeah ... I guess it might make sense... A good pitcher may win 20 or so games out of a 162 game season. Wait a minute ... It doesn't make sense at all !!! Maybe he can make a mean egg foo yung in the clubhouse for the regular players ...lol

 

[salsadancer7]

And then people bitch why I ALWAYS side WITH the players when it comes to labor disputes between the players and the owners....$50 million...JUST TO NEGOCIATE?!! Which means...JUST TO TALK!!! Owners greed FAR out weighs players greed. Hell, they can give me $5,000 and I will make them the best Puerto Rican dish they have EVER tasted!!: : :lick

 

[Sean Mota]

The $51.1 million winning bid is only the start. Now the Red Sox have 30 days to finalize a contract with the Japanese ace.
Making a record-setting bid that easily blew away offers from the New York Yankees, Mets and others, the Red Sox won the auction Tuesday for the World Baseball Classic MVP.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2662193

It was not even $50 MILLION but $51.1 MIllion

In an ESPN poll with over 40k responses, 72% agreed that 50+ Millions is not worthy just to speak to the player.

For sake of reference, the $51.1 million figure is more than the 2006 opening day payrolls in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Tampa Bay and Florida. Alex Rodriguez couldn't be reached for comment, but our guess is that even he thinks it's a lot of money.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2662289


Naturally, you can question whether the Red Sox would have been smarter to invest their money in Johnny Damon, or if it's reckless to go this wild over a Japanese pitcher when the main historical precedents are Hideo Nomo (123-109 in 11 big-league seasons) and Hideki Irabu (aka the "fat toad"). This move doesn't quite jibe with the new image of the farm-friendly Red Sox, earnestly upgrading through the draft and player development.
But at this point, there's no reason to question Boston's resolve in its efforts to sign the man that Epstein respectfully calls "Mr. Matsuzaka." If anything generates the necessary momentum to complete a transaction, it's a $51.1 million down payment. Red Sox fans just better hope their team has enough cash left over for a decent translator.

 

[Sean Mota]

Six years after the Texas Rangers signed A-Rod for $252million, three years after Rangers owner Tom Hicks was so desperate to get out from under that contract that he not only traded A-Rod to the Yankees but sent around $60million to Yankee Stadium along with him, the Red Sox blow up the pitching market this way for Matsuzaka. We all knew what A-Rod could do. Nobody knows what Matsuzaka will do against this country's best hitters. He will be the pitching version of Hideki Matsui. Or he will be the new Hideki Irabu.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/471536p-396800c.html

And that is the big question.... When A-Rod got his contract we all knew that it was an over the top contract but we all knew what type of player A-Rod was and more importantly he has proven in the MLB that he could produce with MVP type of numbers. Now this kid could be the next Tom Seaver or Steve Carlton... well he better be! because the Red Sox will look foolish if he turns out to be another H. Irabu (Fat toat) flap. The deadline to sign him is midnight on December 14th. Boras is not going to give a free pass to Boston and he will try to squeeze as much as possible. Boston has put all their eggs in one basket.... time will tell if it is going to payoff in 2007... Just like the Becket trade did not payoff for them in 2006... How do you think H. Ramirez will look in a Boston Uniform today?

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Just another reason I cant afford to go to the ballpark. The owners cry about salaries, and then they go and do this stupid sh*t. Nice quote about the payrolls of the smaller teams, puts things in perspective.

 

[Hart5150]

Just like the Becket trade did not payoff for them in 2006... How do you think H. Ramirez will look in a Boston Uniform today?

His horendous fielding would have been a problem in Boston, Alex Gonzales played at a gold glove level.

Theo has general managed a World Champion in 2004, when was the last time for Cashman or Mania for that matter?

 

[Sean Mota]

His horendous fielding would have been a problem in Boston, Alex Gonzales played at a gold glove level.

Theo has general managed a World Champion in 2004, when was the last time for Cashman or Mania for that matter?

I will tell you one reason becket did not have the year that H. Ramirez had for a rookie. Becket was supposed to be the one that was going to take Boston to the next level. He wasn't. I still say that not only H. Ramirez but the three rookies that the Marlins got in that deal made the deal much better for the Marlins.

 

[sidekick]

I would much rather consider paying these large sums of money to an everyday player that can produce runs on an everyday basis than to one pitcher that might pitch in 15% of the games.

 

[Sean Mota]

This only proves that there is a new "Evil Empire" in MLB

 

[Ramy]

This only proves that there is a new "Evil Empire" in MLB

I don't think so. The Yankees will always be the "Evil Empire".

 

[patrickpiteo]

I don't think so. The Yankees will always be the "Evil Empire".

If winning makes the Yankees the Evil Empire then so be it....

 

[Peter Parker]

Well it has beena few years since they won it all but your point is well taken they ahve won consistently over the last 3 decades. Money is aprt of the reason.

 

[patrickpiteo]

Well it has beena few years since they won it all but your point is well taken they ahve won consistently over the last 3 decades. Money is aprt of the reason.

and now they are not the only ones with deep pockets. Heck the Yanks were not even the second highest bidder. The Mets were. After the Aug beat down Theo changed his tune about not being able to spend with the big boys it looks like
...

 

[Sean Mota]

Neither Boston or the Mets can call the Yankees the "Evil Empire" anymore. It will just be hypocritical to do so. They are both spending as much money to "buy" their championship. Like I heard on the radio, the Red Sox and Mets are shopping at the same price store that the Yankees are shopping.

And it is so true about Theo. He cried foul about Abreu in the summer of 2006. We do not have money to spend and yet they are going to spend $90 million dollars on a player that has not thrown one baseball in MLB. I hope their investment pays well because if it does not, it will be the biggest flop in MLB history. Boston is rolling the dice... How it will turn? will see in 2007...