The Baseball Desert

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

$51m

That's a shitload of money just to have the right to negotiate with a player, but 1) it ain't my money, and 2) as far as I've understood, it doesn't impact Red Sox payroll. (Joy of Sox has some good quotes, via SoSH, on the deal).

Of course, this is just the overture. The Red Sox now have 30 days to work out a deal with Matsuzaka's agent Scott Boras, which will be no easy task, although Theo has a pretty good relationship with Boras, which should help things along.

I started to get worried about the Red Sox becoming a carbon copy of the Yankees with this kind of deal, but it occurred to me that once you reach a certain level of spending it all becomes irrelevant. The Red Sox are already in Monopoly-money territory when it comes to payroll, so what really matters is getting quality goods in return for your dollar. This is a deal that is going to cost the Red Sox a tidy sum, but by all accounts Matsuzaka has good stuff, and could well be worth whatever the final price is.

I have to say that I'm pretty upbeat about this potential deal. Matsuzaka could be a top-of-the-rotation guy for the Sox for the next few seasons, and that is the kind of opportunity you should never get away from you. Of course, a deal may get struck, only for Matsuzaka to bomb completely, but at least we won't be sat around in 2009 saying: "I told you we shoulda signed that Matsu-whatsisname when we had the chance."

And, last but certanly not least, we're getting excited about baseball. In mid-November. The Hot Stove is burning warm enough to keep us cosy right through to March.