then, a middling bid.

now, they're out.

i don't trust these crafty mariners. i think they're up to no good.

but if they're not playing with my emotions, i am pretty excited about the matsuzaka situation.

The posting price for Matsuzaka certainly affects the bottom line, but at least it doesn't affect the luxury tax. I'd rather commit $10 million for 4 years for Matsuzaka than $10 million for 2 years for Mussina.

Just have an extra beer at the stadium so we can continue to be the best and get the best.

The Matsuzaka price tag will likely be $20 million plus let's estimate a 4x$13 million contract in a pitching-starved FA market -- $72 million total for four years (or something similar). Unless the Yankees believe he is worth a fortune to them in terms of merchandising and TV in the Far East, shelling out that kind of cash for an unknown commodity seems like a spectacularly bad business decision with a ton of risk.

You have to have faith in your scouts.

A bonus in Matsuzakas favor is the fact that he is only money. No players, draft picks, luxury tax.

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=matsuzaka

tell me that you wouldn't want a 26 yr. old kid with that kind of control on the corners on your team.

how would you go about constructing a solid rotation?

i'd rather pay matsuzaka $10-$13M for a few years than pay zito $15M or more.

that's just me. (but i'm hoping ca$hman is of the same page.)

Take an extreme example: Boston could bid $100 million for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka, then offer him very little money, to be sure that he would reject their offer. The Red Sox would get their $100 million back. This trick would cost the Red Sox nothing, while preventing the Yanks from signing Matsuzaka.

More realistically, suppose a team was willing to pay $100 million for 6 years. They could make a sealed bid of $40 million to ensure winning the right to negotiate with him. Then they could offer Matsuzaka $60 million for six years. If he agreed, they'd have the deal they wanted. If he turned them down, they'd be no worse off than if some other team had won the right to negotiate with him.

let's hope that you are the only evil genius out there.

the kid is a free agent after next season. it would just let him choose from all 30 teams in a year.

that would seem like the easiest way to alienate him when he is available in '07.

if this is the way it plays out, i blame you.

(and alex rodriguez.)

Or am I missing something?

Be honest now -- if it was your money as an owner, would you spend more money on Matsuzaka ($18 million+/year for at least three guaranteed years) than any current MLB starter is making? Because that's what we're talking about here. Sure, $20 million of it isn't his salary -- but that doesn't mean you can ignore it. Would you do that based on his WBC performance and his performance at a below MLB level? What if it becomes $20 million per year? More?

Hideki was a great move because he was a bargain. Matsuzaka is not going to be a bargain -- he's going to be a "Tickle Me Elmo" on December 23rd when there aren't any Tickle Me Elmos left in sight.

I would love to get him, but I doubt that most GMs would see that as a positive value equation. In order to deliver on that expense, Matsuzaka has to be better than a #3 starter -- he needs to be in the running for the CY every year of that contract.

I would also bet that Boras would raise a huge stink about it, too. Maybe he wouldn't care - he might be able to get a better deal if he could negotiate with all 30 teams. But he'd have to make a big deal out of it now, or risk losing face with Matsuzaka and every other Japanese player - and then never working for any of them again. Boras wouldn't take that chance.

So, the sneaky team wouldn't just lose out on Japanese players in the future, they'd probably lose out on Boras-represented players too. No team will take that chance. I hope.

Suppan is an average pitcher that just happened to pitch well in the postseason

17 I think we're saying the same thing Shaun. If there are no Tickle Me Elmos left on December 21 and the lowest bid for one on EBay is $300 -- then if you run into a street vendor and he says he has one he'll sell you for $250, that may seem like a bargain, but it isn't one -- it's a 500% markup. For $250 you could buy an XBox 360 and get a lot more entertainment value.

Similarly, if you think about who is currently making $18 million/year, nobody on the free agent market is a bargain at that price. If Pujols were a FA, he would be a bargain at that price, but that's about it. Just because some idiot out there is willing to pay Zito $17 million/year, doesn't make Matsuzaka a bargain at $18 million.

Think back to A-Rod's contract -- it didn't seem all that crazy when he signed it, but in retrospect, it was a pretty bonehead move even with two MVP seasons he has had. If Matsuzaka gets what amounts to $18 million/year in compensation without ever having thrown a pitch in the ML, then A-Rod at $25 million actually is a bargain. :-)

but a lot of a teams credibility is on the line. honor means something. if they do something like that they wont be able to operate in the far east ever again and will come off terrible to american players and agents too.

George King had this:

"According to Yankees sources, the move came from above Torre, who is very close to Mazzilli. Mazzilli played for the Mets when Torre managed there, and was in his second stint as a Yankees coach under Torre.

The firing fits the profile of George Steinbrenner. When he brought Torre back for next season after coming close to firing the manager following the ALDS meltdown against the Tigers, it was assumed The Boss would try to shake up Torre's coaching staff.

Because Ron Guidry and Don Mattingly are Yankees royalty, Larry Bowa is considered the best third base coach in the game and Tony Peña's enthusiasm and work with Jorge Posada were outstanding, that left the 51-year-old Mazzilli for The Boss to focus on.

Neither GM Brian Cashman nor Mazzilli returned calls."

I'm not so sure it was Steinbrenner, given his conditon. Everybody knows it wasn't Torre's call. Hmmmm. A-Rod strikes again?

I'd go $400.

The "Tickle Me Sheffield" is cool too, since it comes with all the possible uniforms.

also i think that some of you have a bright future in the legal field (if you aren't already pro negotiators/agents/GMs/lawyers).

http://www.frightcatalog.com/i/500/1103097.jpg

i hear he's a good guy so i hope he get's millions & millions plus the guy is from the San Fernando Valley

(Would China allow Wang in on a Taiwanese passport? Or does he have an American one, and how'd China sell it to their people that a Yankee came from the "renegade" province?)

You guys are bad!! LMAO thanks for the laughs I was getting depressed watching it SNOW outside my window.

And can anyone find a citation where it says it's OK to submit a high posting bid and then fail to work out the contract on purpose as a way to block other teams? My guess is there is some penalty for not completing the negotiation.

Technically, the commisioner and the Lions do not have to accept the highest bid to protect themselves against just that situation. I mean if several teams put in a bid and they are all around $20M, then the team that put in the $50M bid is obviously trying to block him...in that case, the Lions could simply say they prefer to take the lower bid.

So did Kenny Rogers. :-P

The Red Sox's vaunted defense were shut out.

Jorgie deserve it this yr. Pudge wins on rep.

Maybe A-Rod's bad defense made Jeter look better and therefore helped him win it... ;-)

The negative aspects would overwhelm the one positive aspect of keeping him from a competing team.

My prediction. Yanks win it with 28 mill

He has to be given credit for Jetes 3 GG's the past 3 years. He allows Jeter to do more things. Remember that A Rod is a GG shortstop and a fabulous defensive player (no matter what the middle of the yr showed)

Also, IIRC A-Rod actually did better after he changed to a different glove.

"I'm very proud of Derek," Steinbrenner said through Rubenstein. "I hope he wins the MVP; he should. He's a great Yankee and a great leader."

http://tinyurl.com/yklao4

Congrats to DJ on his GG!

A-Rod's defense was a wreck this year. It wasn't just throwing. Even before that started, he was dropping balls that hit him right in the glove. The throwing errors were just lagniappe.

he makes the game much easier for jeter by being so good.

ferocious brosius was a solid fielder but he didnt have the range a rod does and doesnt have any of the speed or arm. a rods presence allows jeter to range and cheat farther which allows him to get to more balls and take more chances.