Unbelieveable. Add to that a 5 yr 50 million contract and the Red Sox will have invested nearly 90 million in one pitcher.
Can anyone say Chan Ho Park?
Unbelieveable. Add to that a 5 yr 50 million contract and the Red Sox will have invested nearly 90 million in one pitcher.
Can anyone say Chan Ho Park?
If you think small, you'll go nowhere in life.
why do you say chan ho park, b/c he is asian?? he wasn't bought from japan
Couple key important points here:
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSo...37&srvc=sports
http://www.projo.com/redsox/content/...x.30d5737.htmlThe Sox also believe they can reclaim much of their original investment on the pitcher (the reported $38 million to $45 million) by extending their baseball and marketing efforts into Japan.
The Red Sox own 80 percent of NESN, which could be become quite a commodity in Tokyo if the Sox were to land the pitcher. Furthermore, the Sox would be able to capitalize on their rivalry with the Yankees, who similarly own their own network (YES) and who also have a Japanese star (Hideki Matsui).
Possibly more than any other player, this type of offer for Matsuzaka isn't just about the run value he'll provide in winning games, it's an offer of a $42 million business investment looking to capitalize in the Japanese baseball fanbase market.Whatever money the Sox offered in their bid to Seibu does not count toward the luxury tax, the threshold of which is now a payroll of $148 million.
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The Sox think they can recoup a lot of the money through international marketing in the Far East, such as the televising of Matsuzaka's starts in Japan via NESN.
Whether it actually works or not that the Sox can recoup these costs via marketing and tapping into the Japanese market, nobody's going to know, but the Red Sox have to think that it will work. Obviously much of it depends on Matsuzaka's actual success in the majors; if he comes over and demonstrates that he's one of the best 10 starters or so, I have to think the Sox will have guessed mostly right. If he struggles, though, the Red Sox may lose a ton of money.
The Lost Decade Average Season: 74-88
2014-22 Average Season: 71-91
SPECULATION ALERT:
Plus, there's also the possibility that this posting system is really as shady as it seems like it could be, and Seibu is going to have to kick a little something back in order to collect. They get nothing if he doesn't sign, and, if the Red Sox don't want to give Matsuzaka as big a contract as he wants, it's just not that hard to imagine a little extra "negotiating" going on.
"Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons
Originally Posted by butlerbulldogs
Nope. Worst contract next to Kevin Brown's.
If you think small, you'll go nowhere in life.
I still can't believe a ball team can spend $40mil just as a negotiation fee and not be counted against the luxury tax. Small market teams could barely afford the contract let alone the fee. I'm sure a few small market teams would have offered him a contract if not for the fee.
You're right. I did write paying "for him" rather than "to him."
Anyway, others may be right about paying $20MM+ per season as an "investment in the Japanese fan market" but it's pretty ironic in light of Theo's complaining this season about being unable to compete with the Yankee's spending and needing to get back to developing players.
The negotiation fee could easily just be budgeted as capital improvements/investments. For a small market team, that money doesn't make a lot of sense to essentially waste in the Japanese market b/c that's not their market. They're small, not global. Your bigger/large market teams can easily invest that negotiation fee overseas to attempt to open a pipeline for not only talent, but revenue generating opportunities. Unfortunately, that's the nature of economics, finance and business.
Say your local mom and pop convenience store in Fairfax is looking to expand their market. Are they going to advertise and attempt to draw patrons from Cleveland, or are they going to try and court and cater to the Mariemont, Mt. Lookout, Madisonville crowds? I think you know the answer to that. It's the same for Major League Baseball. While every team is a national brand on some level, not all of them are international brands. The Red Sox may not even be an international brand quite yet, but this is a step in the right direction for what they believe is an emerging market for them.
Unfortunately, this is the nature of the beast, and until the smaller market teams grow their own markets first regionally and then nationally, they will remain smaller markets.
I'm not sure where the "pot-kettle" comment is directed. But it should be directed at the Sox, who at the trading deadline brought out the hankies and violins to explain that they couldn't trade for Bobby Abreu because "we're not the Yankees."
$42M + what's likely to be a 5 year - $80+M contract is a lot of money to shell out for a guy who's never thrown a pitch in the major leagues. I remember when Hideki Irabu was the "Japanese Nolan Ryan." How'd that work out?
Now, they could lowball Matzsuzaka and let him go back to Japan - in effect blocking him from NY. But that would only delay him joining the Yankees for one year and I don't think Theo would play that game. I think the Sox will go all out to sign this guy.
holy crap! its now reported they paid 51 million!
that some serious talking cash. If he gets a 4yr $40M contract the Sox will have spent over $90M for him.
$51.1 according to this story....
http://broadband.zoomtown.com/news/r...HNWC01L2_UNEWSTuesday, November 14, 2006
Red Sox Bid $51.1 Million for Matsuzaka
The Associated Press By RONALD BLUM
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — The market price for pitching talent is soaring so high that it's come to this: The Boston Red Sox are ready to pay more than $50 million just for the right to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka, who's never thrown his "gyroball" — or any pitch, for that matter — in the major leagues.
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.
"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."
And they're prepared to pay big money for him — the previous high bid for a posted player from Japan was $13,125,000 by the Seattle Mariners for Ichiro Suzuki after the 2000 season.
Speculation about what it will take for Boston to sign Matsuzaka has ranged from $7 million to $10 million annually over three to four years.
The Seibu Lions of Japan's Pacific League announced they had accepted the high bid for their prized pitcher, and the major league commissioner's office simultaneously confirmed at the general managers' meetings that the Red Sox had made the offer.
If the Red Sox and Matsuzaka can agree to a deal by midnight on Dec. 14, the right-hander would join a talented rotation that already includes Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and converted closer Jonathan Papelbon.
"We're excited to have won this part of the process and we're hopeful we can reach an agreement," Epstein said.
The 26-year-old Matsuzaka is represented by Scott Boras, who last year negotiated the deal that moved center fielder Johnny Damon from the Red Sox to the Yankees.
After missing the playoffs last season, Boston outbid its longtime rival this time.
Epstein said the team would invite Boras, Matsuzaka and his family to Boston to begin negotiations. Boras said the sides planned to set up a meeting soon, but wasn't sure whether it would be in Boston, Japan or California.
Matsuzaka was 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA and 200 strikeouts for the Lions this year. He throws in the high-90s mph, has good off-speed pitches and is known for his deceptive "gyroball," which has been likened to a screwball.
In assessing the amount of Boston's bid, Boras compared Matsuzaka's allure to what outfielder Hideki Matsui has brought to the Yankees.
"It's the value of a No. 1 starter. It's much like Matsui and the Yankees," Boras said. "It shows the value of a player like this. He brings advertising dollars. He brings a network presence in Japan."
Unlike Matsui, Matsuzaka was not yet eligible for free agency.
For selling their star pitcher, the Lions would get the $51.1 million from Boston — but only if the Red Sox sign Matsuzaka.
The Mets finished second with a bid between $39 million and $40 million, according to a baseball official who spoke on condition of anonymity because none of the losing bids were revealed. The Yankees bid between $32 million and $33 million, another baseball official said.
Matsuzaka was scheduled to fly to the United States on Wednesday and give a brief news conference at the airport.
Even before the announcement, general managers had assumed Boston would be the highest bidder in the blind process.
"We'll congratulate the winner and move on," New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Tuesday afternoon.
The Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers also were thought to be among the bidders.
"I'm very comfortable with the bid that we made," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said, sidestepping whether he would have topped Boston's offer now that he knew what it was.
Bidding closes Friday for Akinori Iwamura, a third baseman with the Central League's Yakult Swallows.
Before the Matsuzaka announcement, agents roamed the hotel lobby, discussing their free-agent clients.
"Pitching, as usual, is at a premium," Boras said.
Minaya and Epstein met on Tuesday, but the potential availability of slugger Manny Ramirez wasn't discussed. Boston has explored trade possibilities for the All-Star outfielder in recent years.
Second baseman Mark DeRosa became the first major league free agent to switch teams, leaving Texas for a $13 million, three-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.
The Mets re-signed two players, agreeing to a $12 million, two-year contract with 41-year-old pitcher Orlando Hernandez and a $3.8 million, one-year deal with second baseman Jose Valentin.
Minaya said some teams are unsure of where the marketplace is going, "so if they could do something quick, they're going to try to do it."
Mike Mussina's agent, Arn Tellem, kept up talks with the Yankees on a new contract for the pitcher that likely will be worth $23 million to $25 million over two years.
"We're in the red zone," Tellem said.
With Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt heading a weak free-agent class, pitchers will get top prices.
"There are 30 clubs and probably three-quarters are looking for pitching," new Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "There's a lot of interesting pitchers out there. At the end of the year, the teams that have pitching, and healthy pitching, are usually the ones that are around."
GMs, as usual, will hold their annual discussion Wednesday of whether to have instant replay available to umpires, a concept commissioner Bud Selig opposes. In the past, the idea hasn't garnered enough support.
"I guess we'll get a sense of that tomorrow," said Joe Garagiola Jr., a senior vice president in the commissioner's office.
There will also be talk Wednesday of whether to eliminate tie games, having them instead become suspended games. On Thursday, the GMs will discuss whether to have uniform standards for storing baseballs, a talk prompted by the use of a humidor by the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
As for the postseason schedule, nothing seems to have come of the idea floated by Selig to give wild-card teams fewer home games in the playoffs.
"That is not officially on the agenda, so I suspect that will be some good lobby talk," Garagiola said.
GMs did vote on one rule change, proposing that outright assignments to the minor leagues not count against the number of optional assignments a team has on a player. That must be approved by owners and the union.
"Enjoy this Reds fans, you are watching a legend grow up before your very eyes" ... DoogMinAmo on Adam Dunn
The 26-year-old Matsuzaka is represented by Scott Boras
Barry Zito projected contract now looks like a bargain.
anyone else tired of hearing about the hype surrounding him? clearly he has been a stud overseas and he may well be a stud in the MLB too. however, until he pitches a season (or seasons), i'm tired of hearing about him until he proves his worth.
of course, the media hype isn't his fault, but still...
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