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So the Red Sox bid $51.1M just for the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. In 10 years, looking back, this will be seen as ...

Foolish overbidding that makes the Hideki Irabu era look good. 53 (41.41%)
The smart acquisition of a Hall of Fame talent. 19 (14.84%)
Meh. They did what they had to do to get a good #3 starter. 41 (32.03%)
Other (what?) 15 (11.72%)

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128 votes | 8 featured comments
So the Red Sox bid $51.1M just for the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. In 10 years, looking back, this will be seen as ... | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Jevant - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 10:37 AM EST (#157908) #

The fact that one team can just throw away money that is more than FOUR TEAMS payrolls from last year seems more than just a little inane to me. 

Every other sport has a salary cap.  MLB needs either that, or a hard luxury tax style cap.  This is getting ridiculous.

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Jevant - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 11:10 AM EST (#157912) #

Whoops.  Foxsports tells me that it is actually SIX teams, not four.  All the more relevant then, I suppose.

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Ducey - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 11:12 AM EST (#157913) #
I voted that it was smart move. I am assuming that the RedSox don't actually have to pay anything unless they sign him. In this senario, the Japanese club has a vested interest in him signing with Boston. Maybe they pay him something. The player does not have a lot of negotiating room in this senario. I have a hunch that things will work out to the player signing for a market value contract (including the $51 million). If so, Boston will have a great starter with only part of the cost subject to any luxury tax.
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Mike Green - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 12:20 PM EST (#157917) #
Other: the smart acquisition of a very good, but not quite Hall of Fame level pitcher. I think that he'd slot in between Halladay and Burnett were he to be acquired by the Jays.  He's going to be much better than any other pitcher available in the free agent market.
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koanhead - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 12:23 PM EST (#157919) #
I voted Other. I'm of the opinion that the Red Sox will sign Matsuzaka, and, whether he flops or he wins the Cy Young, that their bid for him will be seen as a very smart move in ten years. How much money is NESN on Japanese television alone worth? And that's before you even get into other details such as selling Asian advertising space on the blue screens behind home plate. Visibility in a huge market is what they're gambling on; a successful transition to MLB by Matsuzaka would only be gravy for them.



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Mylegacy - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 01:37 PM EST (#157920) #

I voted other.

This is madness. Finally, baseball gets back under fiscal control, finally, things make sense...then this!

The true insanity of this is that if it ends up making sense then insanity rules. Alice and the mad hatter would love this. I think I'll go back to bed, I'm getting a headache.

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VBF - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 01:43 PM EST (#157922) #

The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry is going to hit Japan in dynamic proportions. Heck, it might just create a civil unrest in the country, dividing the country into Red Sox and Yankees supporters.

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

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Ryan Day - Wednesday, November 15 2006 @ 03:14 PM EST (#157928) #
I suspect the Red Sox will be the victims of unrealistic expectations: No matter how good Matsuzaka is, there's no way he can be good enough to be worth all that money. He'll probably have a perfectly good season - 15 wins, ERA around 3 - and some people will call him a flop.
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So the Red Sox bid $51.1M just for the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. In 10 years, looking back, this will be seen as ... | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.