My understanding is Red Sox paid $51.1 million, Mets were second with $38, and Yankees third with $30.
I hate the Cubs even more now, if that is possible. Cheap-ass Tribune. I hope they are planning to sell, and do so to someone committed to winning.
I would say obscene would be putting it lightly. Even the Yankees bid was too damn high. It's sick. All this money just to "talk" with the guy.
Absolutely he is. It looks to me like other fans don't want to hear it, though. I think they know that Cashman is infact calling the shots, and is making good moves, but they don't want to accept it. Just like the GMs and other execs were saying at the GM meetings. Of course now we're going to have to listen to "well he was GM for the last few years, he gets all the blame." It's annoying how little they know.
I am trying to learn to not get too upset anymore when someone shows they don't understand something. I make mistakes, hell quite often, but I admit them. Too many people around here refuse to accept when they are wrong, regardless of the proof to the contrary. People just don't understand how much Tampa and George have been controlling who comes in here. The only thing Cashman has been allowed to do over the past few years is negotiate contracts. While he has done a very good job with that, he's had some crappy contracts come around (Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown) simply because these guys knew they were in, and we basically making demands at will. That era is over. He's showing everyone that the Yankees are looking to head back into the black, and at the same time win titles, while simultaneously rebuilding a weakened farm system. (Which really isn't weak, but ESPN doesn't want the rest of the world to know that.)
If I could speak japanese Id make the Sox pay me 10 million to help translate negotiations with this guy
If I could speak japanese Id ask the Sox to pay me qo million to help translate during negotiations with this guy
For all the people saying how this was WAY too much, consider this article... http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/how-much-is-matsuzaka-worth/ I'm sure the Red Sox front office did something similar to this when they figured out their bid. So even with that monsterous bid, they might end up on the plus side, not even taking into account the extra money from the playoff appearences he might help bring them.
Of course the Red Sox also run the risk of being out $100 million if Matsuzaka can't be as successful in the majors as he was in Japan (which is a very legitimate risk.) And most reports indicate that the Red Sox bid was at least $10 million higher than the next highest bid, so any way you slice it Boston didn't do a great job.
I guess this means there will not be any justified Sox fan whining about Yankee spending for a while.
A good part of me strongly agrees with you. And you know where my heart lies. However, the competing sunshiney view is that the Sox have never been free agent predators. Curt Schilling and Mike Torrez. I can't really think of any others. I'd count Pedro as the same sort of aggressive management decision, giving up two top prospects for a pitcher with (I think) one or two years left on his contract. They made a business choice that they were going to get this player, and they submitted an offer that would, without doubt, win the day. That's a first for the Sox. What the Red Sox did with Matsuzaka, they don't do. That's got to be encouraging. It tells me that they're making a concerted effort to maintain their lead in championships won in the 21st Century. Two other lesser points that haven't been mentioned all that much. First, the Red Sox just demonstrated to the Asian market that they are in the market for players. I heard a Japanese journalist on the radio - a guy whose only job is to cover Ichiro - say that the Red Sox are pretty big in Japan, but they just have no players to root for. Also, crazy as this sounds, the guy with all the pressure right now is Matsuzaka. He is a Japanese icon. The face of the "Matsuzaka Generation" (whatever the hell that means). The Red Sox have done everything possible to show commitment and respect to the player and Japanese baseball. If they make a competitive contract offer, and if it looks like he is being unreasonably greedy, it will be construed as "dishonorable" back home. His image and marketing will suffer. For him, at some point, his contract negotiations have diminishing returns. Having said all that, I still think that it's going to be difficult for the Red Sox to sign the kid, BUT for one fact: Scott Boras can't rely on the Yankees out-bidding for his services anymore. 2006 may be his best contract opportunity.
