Matsuzaka, Red Sox: Apparently a Done Deal
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Following up on this blog’s earlier report, Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that by mid-afternoon on Wednesday, a deal had apparently been struck;
Daisuke Matsuzaka has reached a deal with the Boston Red Sox for six years, $52 million, a source close to the negotiations has told SI.com. The deal contains escalator clauses that could bring it up to $60 million.
The clauses are similar to the ones in the contract of Josh Beckett, another starting Red Sox pitcher, a person connected to the team said.
Matsuzaka and the Red Sox came to an agreement shortly before both sides boarded a private jet out of Orange County, Calif., around 9 a.m. PST on Wednesday. Matsuzaka is to take a physical shortly after landing in Boston.
The deadline to sign Matsuzaka, the most heralded pitcher in the Japan League, was midnight Thursday.
When Matsuzaka, agent Scott Boras and Red Sox officials all boarded the plane, speculation was high that a deal was at hand after very difficult negotiations over 29 days. “They all took off together,” Red Sox owner John Henry wrote to the AP in an email. “Assume a deal is done or close.”
The BoSox need for a “top-of-the-rotation” starter with Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield getting up in years makes this deal a win/win situation as Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports;
The final numbers… are a triumph for the Red Sox, and a triumph for Matsuzaka, too.
The Sox secured long-term control over Matsuzaka even though his agent, Scott Boras, wanted to make the pitcher a free agent as quickly as possible.
Matsuzaka, 26, gained the opportunity to enter Major League Baseball in his prime, rather than play two more years in Japan before becoming a free agent.
His salary would be higher if the Sox hadn’t paid $51.1 million for his rights, but Matsuzaka won’t exactly suffer financially, commanding perhaps $20 million per season in endorsements.
In the end, everybody wins — even Boras, who did not get the deal he wanted, but protected the interests of his client, helping him fulfill his desire to pitch in the majors.
The posturing is over. The reputations of both Boras and the Red Sox in Japan are secure. And suddenly, the Sox boast — potentially - the best rotation in the AL East.
Along with right-handers Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield, both 40, the rotation will feature three 26-year-old righties — Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon.
Matsuzaka is something of a mystery; he could prove to be a $100 million bust. But most major-league teams project him as a top-of-the-rotation starter, not the next Hideki Irabu.
The Sox have control over Beckett for four years, Papelbon for five and Matsuzaka for six. Lefty Jon Lester, recovering from lymphoma, also could be part of that group. He expects to report to spring training, and he’s only 22.
Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports;
Matsuzaka agreed to a six-year contract that will pay him at least $52 million Wednesday afternoon, passed his physical Wednesday night and will be introduced at a press conference in Boston on Thursday afternoon.
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February 12th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
[…] With all of the incentive clauses in the contact, if Matsuzaka successfully exhibits the Japanese work ethic, that additional $52 million could mushroom to somewhere in the $60 millions. […]