A Small Price to Pay

By Justin Townsend

There are many different reasons to like the Red Sox extraordinary $51.1 million bid on Japanese ace Dasuke Matsuzaka, that is unless Dasuke ends up ********** (sorry, it’s the only pun I can think of using with his name).

On a serious note though, the right hander gives the Red Sox 51.1 million reasons why the bid was worth it, and I’ll tell ya why.

On the surface Matsuzaka, like Chien-Ming Wang for the Yankees, gives the Red Sox a potential ace in the prime of his career a chance to pitch atop the

Boston

rotation for more than a couple years. Given that the contract will likely be another 3-year version a lot like Hideki Matsui’s, the Red Sox get a good look at Matsuzaka without being bogged down by a lengthy contract on a player that is still very much a mystery to most.

Almost as importantly, the bid tells the New York Yankees they have the cojones to spend a pretty penny too, even if it means their fans can’t use the famous Steinbrenner-buys-championships argument anymore. Usually this wouldn’t seem like a good point, but after what was reportedly passed up at last year’s trade deadline the Red Sox’s ability to pull the trigger has been at question.

While we’re talking about the Yankees, let us not forget why they were tossed out of the ALCS by the Detroit Tigers—starting pitching. Of the Yankees starters for next season Wang is the only legitimate ace with potential to stay more than a couple years in New York; it only gets worse too, with 43-year old Randy Johnson just a wrong side of the bed away from retirement, a 38-year old Mike Mussina in his twilight and Crashin’ Carl Pavano’s injury prone stay in New York likely to end (4-6, 17 games started, 4.77 ERA between two seasons).

There’s very little doubt why the Yankees traded Gary Sheffield for three Detroit Tiger pitchers, Humberto Sanchez, 23, Kevin Whelan, 22, and Anthony Claggett, 22, all of which look to be a year or two away from the major leagues, perfect time to take Ragin’ Randy and the Moose’s place in the rotation. Given how the Yankees prospered without slugger

Sheffield

for much of last season, this deal might end up being looked at in a couple years as a blockbuster.

No doubt the generous Matsuzaka bid certainly keeps the Yankees from having a fifth starter, but the bid also blocks them from having a legitimate number one or two pitcher in their rotation with Matsuzaka, and, if Sanchez, Whelan and Claggett continue to progress and develop, blocks them from having one of the better, top to bottom young pitching rotations in the majors.

Aside from the obvious block of the Yankees, the other side of the obviousness in this bid is the languish amount of money they paid to get exclusive negotiating rights with Matsuzaka—the apparent reason was to continuously guess about what other teams would bid.

While I may opine just like the rest and probably say much of the same about the $51.1 large ones, experts like Joe Sheehan’s article on Baseball Prospectus have much more elaborate pieces on the subject with information I could never take credit for. In the article he clears up how the Red Sox will make up their large investment to merely talk to Matsuzaka, and it’s not through pink t-shirts or television deals—here’s a hint, it rhymes with WINNING.

There are of course questions about how Matsuzaka will assimilate American culture, put up with the media in

Boston

and the rabid, frothing-at-the-mouth fans that come with the Red Sox. Personally, Matsuzaka has already dealt with crazy media frenzy in

Japan

and has already been to

America

.

The only question that looms usually with new players coming to

Boston

, is whether they’ll embrace the

Boston

media or shrug off the pestering fans. Seeing as nobody knows how Matsuzaka will react to the fan base here, the point seems moot. I’m sure they just don’t want another finger-flippin’ Byung-Hyun Kim incident. Besides, the language barrier could create an atmosphere where he might not even know the heckling, if he ever gets heckled. That last sentence could be a stretch of ignorance, but alas it could ring true for some foreign players.

Additionally, seeing that if the Red Sox don’t sign Matsuzaka they get their bid money back, this gives the Red Sox to negotiate at market price, which is key when dealing with Scott Boras. If they don’t come to an agreement, Matsuzaka will have to go play for Seibu again, make less money than in America and let’s not forget that he has the potential to become an international celebrity much like Yao Ming and Ichiro. If Matsuzaka and

Boras

ask for more than market the Red Sox get their money back, miss out on a pitcher, but in the end show the majors how much money they’re willing to spend and the market price of Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt go up.

Oh and this signing gives the Red Sox another ace without having to sacrifice their minor league system, which they haven’t done too well with the past couple years—Anibel Sanchez, Freddy Sanchez, Matt Murton, Cla Meridith, Hanley Ramirez sound good to anyone? This is something I’m sure the Red Sox brass is rather happy about.

How Matsuzaka pitches under the circumstances has yet to be determined in the whole mix. A lot of speculation is out, and the range of how good he is goes all the way from Hideki Irabu-like to Johan Santana-like. He did fare well in the World Baseball Classic, only MVP, and his charisma in

Boston

is likely to go a long way like Pedro’s did.

In the end the deal could look like a big waste of money or the best deal ever pulled off by Theo Epstein since Jeff Suppan, but isn’t every deal he does? That was a joke, people. A joke.