Matsuzaka-mania

Daisuke Matsuzaka. Daisuke Matsuzaka. I’m not sure how to pronounce it yet, but I’ll bet Boston Red Sox announcers are working on that right now. Major League Baseball announced this evening that the Red Sox submitted the winning bid to Japan’s Seibu Lions for the exclusive negotiating rights to Matsuzaka. The Red Sox’ bid was $51.1 million. Now the Sox have 30 days to negotiate a contract with Matsuzaka, whose agent Scott Boras is expected to seek a deal in the range of 4 years for $40 million. So the Red Sox may spend upwards of $91 million to sign the Japanese baseball phenom. And they also blocked the Yankees from getting Matsuzaka, which is priceless in the eyes of many New Englanders. The Boston Globe has a good analysis, with this bottom line: the only way the Red Sox recoup this investment is by winning another championship with Matsuzaka.