last night a local newscast mentioned that matsuzaka's wife is a sports reporter.

my first thought was that she'd end up working for NESN, covering the team in japanese, and would be paid about $4M per year, essentially paying matsuzaka $12M per year and bypassing payroll/luxury tax issues.

http://tinyurl.com/v4bnj

Even if DM wins the Cy Young for six straight years, I'll still be glad the Yanks didn't take on that risk and stress. They seem to be moving in the right direction - except when you see guys like Pineiro being discussed.

3 i'll believe that when it happens, and even if it did, i wouldn't.

yeah.

i know that made no sense, but i'm surfing a wave of cold medicine, so i don't particularly care...

3 If any Yankee fan comes back in two years and says they should have gotten DM for 103 million, they're lying. The vast majority though that: a) 50 million was too much; and b) the contract would be more. Even if folks thought he'd be affordable for contract, they still thought that 50 million was too much just to talk to him. High risk, high reward for the team that desparately needs the reward.

IMO, the only positive of the Matsuzaka signing that all the Red Sox trolls should be retreating back into their roach motels soon enough.

Japanese reporters are almost always completely in bed with the people they are covering. Take this snippet from a very interesting research piece:

"The Press Club System

A major reason for this is the press club system through which mainstream media cover Japanese government, politics, business, labor and even crime. Japan's "press clubs" share nothing in common with press clubs in the United States, where reporters eat, drink, talk, and occasionally listen to guest speakers. In Japan, the press clubs at government ministries, business organizations, labor federations, sports teams, and even police stations throughout the country provide an exclusive venue for news to be announced; and they designate the reporters eligible to cover the announcements.

The designated reporters are the members of the clubs. News organizations whose reporters are entitled to membership run the clubs, and those who don't belong-such as all reporters for all of the magazines in Japan-cannot attend press conferences. Japanese reporters, not government officials or businessmen who give news conferences to the press clubs, determine who can and cannot attend."

http://tinyurl.com/sbzvw

9 Please point to where YOU said 50 million was good just to talk to him? Even Mike got off the bandwagon at that point. Otherwise, no second guessing allowed.

1 Interesting theory, but I'd be surprised if a NESN reporter made more than a tenth of that amount.

i was just looking for a way for the sox to cheat the system. by having the missus do a few fluff pieces here and there, they could pay daisuke through NESN... essentially laundering the money to avoid paying luxury taxes.

...i don't honestly expect this to happen, just blowing smoke.

I'm with Simone on one aspect of her statement. I think Matsuzaka will be one of the Top 5 pitchers in the world when all is said and done. The Red Sox just made a total coup in my opinion. The part I step back on is the $51 million posting fee. I think it was stupid and cold have easily backfired on them had Matsuzaka played his cards better. Had he waited to say goodbye to Japan, publicly announced that he may be back if the situation isn't right, and held his cards closer to his vest, he may have made an extra 10-12 million more over 6 years.

It's a moot point though. The Sox scored big. If you could have guaranteed me a month ago that I could sign him for $9 million a season, I would have bid $52 million. No one knew that though, so it's 20/20, and I'm glad we stayed out of it.

Anyone hear anything on Wilson? Is Cash even seriously considering resigning him?

You may be proven correct, you may not, but don't paint future regret as dishonest second guessing from the Matsuzaka supporters.

that's funny, coming from you.

People are wearing Red Sox hats...ALREADY!

I hate this shit.

I agree it looks like the Sox scored big with Matsuzaka - but enough talking about how the deal went down. Next time I want to read about him is in one of Cliff or Alex's pregame write ups.

I also agree say "no-kiewicz" Phillips or Wilson works for me.

The situation with him and his posting still annoys me though. Once the Lions got that bid they were so determined to keep that money I get the feeling that the Sox could have offered Matsuzaka $5 million a year and the Lions would have still made it impossible for DM to return to play in Japan if he wanted to.

It's like it was DM's fault that the Lions were in financial trouble and he had to take the hit when negotiating with the Red Sox for his contract to get them out of it.

Once guys hit free agency, they are usually signed to one year deals so the team can reduce their pay if they don't put up the same numbers. If your average drops 10 points and you hit 5 less homers, you get a pay cut.

There's so much collusion here it's criminal. The players won't strike, and actually feel grateful that someone will pay them to play baseball. It's sick.

See, I think I'd be more worried about DM, if it wasn't for the Beckett episode last year. He was supposed to come in and be the lights out ace, had beaten the Yanks in the Serious, and was still very young. I felt a real stomach punch from that move, combined with the lingering effects of a piece of Meat that just didn't taste Wright.

One year later? The team finished in third place. And Beckett was far, very far, from advertised. Oh, and the Sox lost heavily in the deal. Now I'm supposed to forget all that and assume they made an amazing deal?

I just can't get out of my head that the best hitters (Ichiro, Godziller) from Japanese baseball come over here and hit fewer homers and walk less while K'ing more. And those were their iconic players akin to Pujols and A-Rod and Vlad and Manny, even as the number of American players are restricted. In America the Japanese stars are above average players - there are three of them on every team. What's going to happen when DM has to face 8 guys in a lineup that hit like Godziller, as on the Yanks?

Beckett came to the AL East and gave up more homers while walking more and K'ing less. And we saw what happened. DM's now got to prove it on the field, in the most demanding town in the league, to justify a huge salary and satisfy an even bigger fan base. Let's see him do it.

My greatest fear is that the Sox continue their big spending ways, sign Ichiro in the offseason, and take over all of Japan. It could happen. There is also the matter of Kosuke Fukudome, the Central League MVP, who is a FA next season. He is a doubles, gap hitter with a .400+ OBP. He's a perfect fit for Fenway.

Next year is when the shit hits the fan.

Revisionist history is a wonderful thing. But it doesn't apply in this case.

24 That's funny.

With luck you will get to see their reaction when the BoSox finish 2nd or (if we are lucky) 3rd again next season.

he injured his pitching arm playing "guitar hero."

http://tinyurl.com/y9df8a

that is one of the best injury stories i've heard.

BTW: I just can't believe how much an 8 game win streak at the right time in 2004 changed perceptions so wildly. Now I'm supposed to be worried about every move they make?

They just signed Nancy Drew, Julio ".760 OPS" Lugo, and a piece of sushi to $200 million worth of contracts after finishing ten games out in 3rd place. I'm supposed to be afraid of the big bad bloody tampon? Am I really alone here?

By contrast, the Yanks have done nothing but get younger and better without dropping serious cash. They have the prospects and flexibility to trade for anyone that's available. And they'll lose close to $40 million in salary next off-season (Abreu and Unit) with reinforcements from the farm on the way.

I really can't wait until April...

I know I'm not alone in that, sorry if your exposure to alternative opinion is limited.

The problem is that "if he's that good" qualification. No one who really thought he was "that good" thought he was worth a $50 million posting fee. And if it was the Yanks the coverage would have been brutally negative.

Still, let's see him prove that he's "that good".

Further, show me any Yankee blog anywhere where a significant number of people were posting the same thing.

There will always be a certain segment of Yankee fans that thinks they should always spend more than anyone else. Me and those folks don't have much to talk about because their reasons are seldom based on facts. Group yourself where ever you'd like.

It's easy to play the second guessing game. In this case it doesn't apply.

Now that I have wasted my time to go back into archives to "prove" to you that my opinion is not "second guessing" I'd like to take this time to bash myself in the forehead for blowing the last 10 minutes of my life on you.

"153. jonnystrongleg
147 & 148 Not crazy at all. Assuming the Boston rumors are true, the pitcher and the agent represent the only question mark. I work at a Japanese firm and everybody here is bummed the Yanks didn't win but they are convinced he will signwith the Red Sox because more than anything else he wants to pitch in MLB ASAP.

2006-11-13 13:45:11154."

If you want a good laugh, my words from yesterday were stolen verbatim by the old Soxholix. I wonder if he's the troll "ric"? Still, if he was going to steal my words, the least he could have done was given me my own character.

I'm glad the games are played on the field. The season will be entertaining, at the very least.

So when you said any yankee fan who says the yanks should have paid 103 million for this guy is lying, how was I supposed to take that?

Key thing. Never listen to the media.

Personally, I'm with you -- whether or not D-M turns out to be worth $103MM over 6 remains to be seen. Beckett is a good example. And Schilling did get them that ring '04, but he hasn't exactly been dominant since then.

My real concern is this: I was (and I think many other were, although I'm not putting words in anyone's mouth here heh) quite happy with our direction when we traded Sheff for pitching prospects and stood on the sidelines as the ridiculous FA signings went zooming by. I really believe that developing our farm system the way "The Stick" did in the early 90s is the way to go.

But now...we sign a 34 year old FA with a history of elbow problems to what will most likely be a two-year deal. We're talking about Clemens and Pineiro and all manner of bad FA moves. We let Wilson and Guiel walk, and Melky's name is in a trade rumor every day. I'm getting a bit nervous now...beginning to look more and more like "business as usual" every day.

If the Sox want to try "big spending" their way to limited success the same way we have for the last 5 years, let them do it. I think it will work just about as well for them as it has for us.

The latest Japanese import is pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii, who is likely headed to the Los Angeles Dodgers after his Japanese team accepted a bid of more than $11 million for his rights. Pagliarulo is very high on Ishii, whom he told many teams about during last month's Winter Meetings in Boston.
"I was telling everyone about this guy at the Winter Meetings," Pagliarulo said. "We gave the Dodgers a full scouting report with video clips on this guy. Willie played with him and I played against him. We had really good information on him."

I also don't get the notion that the Red Sox are getting a steal. When you add in the posting fee, perks and incentives, the deal could cost the Red Sox $19mn per year. Correct me if I am wrong, but outside of Clemens, no pitcher has ever made such a high annual salary. As much as I would ha