[bigboydan]

The Red Sox I know need pitching and all. However, is this guy really worth that kind of coin?

[moses millsap]

He was outright filthy in the WBC, but doesn't he start only once a week in Japan. We know what's going to happen here, somehow he'll end up in pinstripes and cause Red Sox nation to cry

[Jay Edgar]

We know what's going to happen here, somehow he'll end up in pinstripes and cause Red Sox nation to cry

Although, "Daisuke Bleeping Matsuzaka" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

[clonecat]

In the back of my mind, I wonder if they will offer him a poor contract that he will not accept just to keep him out of a Yankee uniform. I'm sure they will want him to sign a lengthy contract to amortize his rights over a longer period of time. Zito has to be smiling knowing this kind of money is being thrown around.

[bigboydan]

His agent is Scott Boris, so I don't think he will settle for chump change

[Tchocky]

If he wins all of his starts, then he's worth every penny.

[BigD]

I'm glad the Sox's did this and I'm glad the Mets were #2 bidder as a Yankee fan I no longer want hear about the yankees spending money for players

[tacomax]

Is this the guy who throws the gyroball, or who doesn't throw it as the case may be?

[moses millsap]

Is this the guy who throws the gyroball, or who doesn't throw it as the case may be?

Yes, this is the gyroball kid.

[RickySteve]

Yes, this is the gyroball kid.

He doesn't throw it.

[moses millsap]

He doesn't throw it.

He claims not to, but others claim he does. I don't know for a fact, do you?

[RickySteve]

He claims not to, but others claim he does. I don't know for a fact, do you?

Will Carroll wrote an article a few months ago asserting that while the gyroball does exist, Matsuzaka doesn't throw it. My comment was made based on this.

Now I see Carroll has written a new article recently in which he changes his position based on new evidence. It seems Matsuzaka does experiment with the gyroball but doesn't have command of it yet and rarely uses it in games. Most of his supposed gyroballs are in fact nasty sliders.

For information's sake, the gyroball was developed by Japanese physicists doing kinetic modeling. Thrown perfectly, it spins like a bullet, clockwise from a right-handed pitcher's perspective, and has a sharp downward break at the same velocity as a fastball.

[tacomax]

RickySteve, you miss the point totally. Nothing new, but you still do. Whether or not he does throw it, he's still the "gyroball kid" - that was the question and the question which was correctly answered.

[Illusion]

He doesn't throw it.

I heard an interview where he said he didn't throw it. It's nothing but hype.

[Illusion]

If the Red Sox can not reach a contract agreement does that mean they wasted all that money just to talk with this guy, or will they get that money back?

[tacomax]

They're not that frivolous with their money.

From what I gather, the $51 million was bid for the rights to speak to him and payable as recompense if a contract with him was signed. If no contract is agreed, no money would be payable and he couldn't speak to any other team until the 2008 season where he would be a free agent.

Supposedly his agent is asking for $15 million a year for a 3 year contract (which effectively works out at $32 million a year payable by the Red Sox). The Red Sox appear to want to pay half that salary and to keep him for double the suggested contract length since they obviously want to write-off the $51 million over a number of seasons.

Unless there's some information I'm not privvy to (which, of course, would be most unlikely) then he should really leave it until next year and then the $51 million can go into his own back pocket instead of into the pocket of his current club.

[Illusion]

Thanks for the clearification taco.

[BigD]

He got 6years for 51mil

[kdmfox]

It looks like 6 years for 52 mil for the Red Sox and the Jap.

[bigboydan]

I just now heard that on espn news just now.

I feel he will be fine for about 2 years til the players figure him out, and start hitting him hard like they did Nomo.

[clonecat]

If Ted Lilly is worth $10 mil a year, this is a bargain for the BoSox 6 yrs - $103 mill total - little over $17 mil a year. Of course its only a bargain if he can actually pitch, was good in the WBC, but that was like spring training.

Zito still will probably rake more than $17 mil a year

[SBRforum Staff]

The Dice Man Cometh

By: Brian Gabrielle
Winning NBA Basketball Picks - Pro & College Basketball Picks

A quick trip west this week netted the Boston Red Sox this offseason's prize possession: Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. After spending more than $50 million just to negotiate with the fireballing right-hander, Boston inked him to a 6-year, $52 million deal on Thursday to give them a very strong starting rotation going into next season.

The Red Sox need to get on westbound planes more often.

Three years ago, Boston GM Theo Epstein boarded a plane for Arizona on Thanksgiving, plopped down in Curt Schilling's kitchen, and wouldn't leave until he had Schilling's name on a huge free-agent contract. One bloody sock later, and the Red Sox were the 2004 World Champs.

This winter, Epstein and his owner, John Henry, raced across the country to intercept Japanese wunderkind Daisuke Matsuzaka and his agent, Scott Boras.

To that point, Boras and the Sox had traded leaks indicating how frustrated they were with one another, how they weren't in the same ballpark, money-wise, how there was a chance Matsuzaka would be headed back to Japan rather than emigrating to the USA to play for Boston. The Red Sox, who posted an impossible $51.1 million for the rights to negotiate for the Dice Man - - His first name is pronounced "Dice-Kay" - - were going to get that money back, and explore investing it elsewhere, like in some ancient mariner named Roger Clemens. The Boston media was set to pounce on a public relations disaster.

But it seems once Theo Epstein gets on a plane, things work out. Within hours of the Red Sox' arrival at Boras' offices, a different kind of leak began to emerge: The parties were getting close, Boras was coming down off his exorbitant demands, and Boston was about to get their man.

Matsuzaka, 26, is the best pitcher in Japan. He led his nation to the World Baseball Classic title this spring, won 17 games for the Seibu Lions this year, and throws 96. He also reportedly features a dazzling array of softer pitches he can throw for strikes at any time, a description that makes you think of another former Boston hurler, some guy named Pedro. Now the Red Sox will feature a rotation that consists of Schilling, Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon, which could just be the best in the majors, if the Dice Man pans out.

Boston still needs a closer, but at this point, outside of the back end of the bullpen, I daresay the Red Sox actually look better than the Yankees on paper. It's December, so Red Sox Nation needs to take a chill, but if the Dice Man brings it the way everyone who's ever seen him pitch in Japan says he will, this flight west will turn out as profitable as the one three years ago.

And if he doesn't?

It'll be absolutely no fun being the Dice Man.

[LLXC]

With all the other very average pitchers making $40-$50 mill, I'd give $200 for this guy.

[bigboydan]

Did you guys checkout this prop they have up at thegreek right now.

Daisuke Matsuzaka # of wins in 2007

0 - 3 wins +1800
4 - 6 wins +1000
7 - 9 wins +650
10 - 11 wins +420
12 - 13 wins +250
14 - 15 wins +200
16 - 17 wins +400
18 - 19 wins +650
20 - 21 wins +800
22 wins or more +2000

I'm liking the 7-9 win mark here.

I feel he will start off like 5-1 or something like that. After that the players will know what to expect out of him. Also, you have to throw in the possible injury factors that just seem to happen during the season, and that could cost him a few starts.

[onlooker]

Probably anywhere between 7 to 13 wins would be a good play. Losing value with 12-13 though.

[Illusion]

Interesting prop, I like the 12-13 wins myself.