I don't want to hear another word around here about the Yankees big spending ruining baseball. Not another word. :wink: The Boston Red Sox, yes, the downtrodden bums scraping by in a small stadium, have apparently spent $35-45 million just for the rights to enter into private negotiations with the latest Japanese import, he of the gyro ball. That's an ante just to get in the game :!: :!: The ESPN story is below: The Boston Red Sox may have posted the top bid for the right to negotiate with Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, according to Major League Baseball sources. There has been no official announcement, and the Seibu Lions, Matsuzaka's team in Japan, have until Tuesday to accept or reject the high bid. But, according to officials monitoring the bidding, the Red Sox bid may be between $38 million and $45 million. Matsuzaka, who pitched for Japan's World Baseball Classic champions, is considered among the top prospects available this offseason. If the Lions accept the top bid, the winning bidder has 30 days to reach an agreement with Matsuzaka. If a deal cannot be reached, he would return to the Lions for the 2007 Japanese baseball season. By 5 p.m. Wednesday, major league teams interested in bidding on the rights to deal with Matsuzaka had to post a sealed bid. Major League Basball then took the highest bid and forwarded only the dollar figure -- not the identity of the team -- to the Seibu Lions. According to a source within Major League Baseball, as of Friday afternoon, Seibu had not informed MLB officially whether it had accepted the bid. There are three reasons the deal would make sense for the Red Sox: • Talent evaluators who have seen Matsuzaka say he's a top of the rotation-quality pitcher who would improve the Red Sox staff. • If Boston signs him it would effectively plant a Red Sox flag in the growing Far East market. • By merely winning the bidding the Red Sox would block the Yankees from acquiring Matsuzaka. By signing him, they would gain the same kind of advantage the Yankees gained when they signed Johnny Damonaway from Boston. Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. :lol: :lol: :lol:
The Lads up in Boston no doubt took up a collection from the Widows and Orphans to make the down payment!!
Gee, it looks like they were forced into it. Further proof that the Yankees are driving MLB headlong into financial ruin :wink: BTW, I read Sheff's comments. I hope The Boss is indeed in good health.
Golly! If the Red Sox spend another $100 million this year, they will almost catch King George... Have we got a free agent deal for you! JD Drew opted out of the last three years of his Dodger contract which guaranteed him $33 million to become a free agent and get more from someone else. The celebrations at his departure have already begun as this saves the team a huge chunk of change that they were paying to a player who only played in 109 games per year, because of mysterious ailments that angered his teammates. This guy is a born Yankee if ever I saw one...
GM Colletti didn't mince words regarding Drew after Drew reportedly went back on his word that he would not execise the opt-out clause in his contract...
Re: Drew I saw that. I'm not sure it's a smart gamble for him, unless of course his agent did some advance scouting of teams in desperate need of better than average LH hitting and knows he can do better. I must be far out of the loop. How this guy is worth $11mm per year is beyond me. This one will be interesting to watch. The good news for the Dodgers is that he's gone and you have some money to spend that you hadn't figured into the budget.
Yanks got a real good pitching prospect named Sanchez who's from the Bronx. Guess that they didn't need to bid on the Japanese import otherwise the Boston bid would have been chump change.
Where to start with you derelicts..... Doc: snappy retort! BDR: Steinbrenner not in good health Dodger Dog: We feed YOU scraps, not the other way around Doc II: no way the Yanks will pick up Drew.... I hope Gipper: Yanks have tried Japanese pitchers before. Like fried rice, after six innings you are still hungry.... for wins Yanks get three young very promising pitching prospects. I love this deal!
"Everybody knows when I go to another team, I'm coming back looking for you. That's just the way it is," he said earlier this week. "When you let me go, I've got a chip on my shoulder, and I'm coming with it. That's how I play the game." ................Gary Sheffield No. You don't feed us scraps. We feed YOU expensive scraps! Remember the Kevin Brown deal? This is one of those. JD Drew is such a non-competitor, that when he was yanked from the starting lineup in the final days of the pennant race, he didn't even complain! He likes sitting on the bench for $11 million per year and now King George will give him even more! I hope we sign Soriano now... .............Scrappy
After the Red Sox get done negotiating this GyroMan's contract, expected to be at least four years and at least $15 mil per they will have spent exactly half of the Yankees payroll on a pitcher who has never pitched in the MLs. NAPLES, Fla. (AP) -In dollars, it comes to $51.1 million. In yen, it's a tad over 6 billion. And that just gives the Boston Red Sox the right to speak with Daisuke Matsuzaka. 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 Japanese ace who was MVP of the World Baseball Classic. Now the Red Sox have 30 days to sign the 26-year-old righty to a contract. If they don't, they keep the money and the pitcher known for his "gyroball" will have to stay with the Seibu Lions of the Pacific League. "We have long admired Mr. Matsuzaka's abilities and believe he would be a great fit with the Red Sox organization," Boston general manager Theo Epstein said. "Clearly, we believe Mr. Matsuzaka is a real talent." The previous high bid for a posted player from Japan was $13.125 million by the Seattle Mariners for Ichiro Suzuki after the 2000 season.
Heady numbers. Interesting that you compare the cost of the rights and a four year contract to one year of Yankee payroll, though. The total expense of negotiating rights and potential salary over a four year contract is also roughly the equivalent of four years of A-Rod's 2006 salary, no? I hope Theo knows what he's doing. I don't want to see the Sox end up with an A-Rodian weight around their neck, too. Money's gotten way too big in baseball. It's a shame teams feel a need to chase the Yankees. Something has to be done. :wink:
Guys... <t>George is in rare form on this one. I have to agree where is the common sense? Amazing.<br/> <br/> Basking in the Cardinals glow.</t>
Let's do the math... that is twice A-Rod's salary just to talk to him. If they sign him I'll bet he'll be real popular in the clubhouse! :lol:
Rick, I don't think that your Avatar is appropriate for this forum. Of course I do not make this observation in a knee jerk reaction. I like to make all decisions based upon an educated opinion. Therefore, I viewed it for at least 10 minutes before making up my mind. :roll:
Rick, Because of your new avatar I'm going to let your latest A-Rod comment go unchallenged. In addition, I would like to nominate you for SkyBox poster of the year for 2006. You are also a great humanitarian. :wink:
Nice payday <t>My Cards just learned...........................<br/> <br/> A full playoff share for the Cardinals is worth $362,173, $40,000 more than the previous record set last fall by the Chicago White Sox. The Cardinals awarded 48 full shares, seven partial shares and 16 cash awards. Baseball released the figures Thursday.<br/> <br/> Basking in the glow.............................</t>