In an earlier post, I had written that the Red Sox may have won the rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Well the Red Sox did win those rights as was announced today by MLB and the Seibu Lions of the Japanese League. The Lions control the rights to Matsuzaka. The winning bid was $51.1 million dollars. Yes folks $51.1 million dollars just for the rights to negotiate with him.
The Mets finished second with a bid between $39 million and $40 million, according to a baseball official who spoke on condition of anonymity because none of the losing bids were revealed. The Yankees bid between $32 million and $33 million, another baseball official said.
We wonder why the Red Sox ticket prices are always going up. This explains it all. Overall, this will be a good move for the Red Sox if they can sign him because one it keeps him from going to the Yankees and two, he can help the Red Sox out immediately. Thirdly, this will help market the Red Sox in Japan if they can sign him to a contract. This overseas exposure can also help generate tremendous revenue which could offset the cost of the bidding.
For those of you who don’t understand the process, I will explain it again. The Red Sox have 30 days to reach a contract agreement. If an agreement isn’t reached before the 30-day window expires, the “posting” money would be returned to the Red Sox and Matsuzaka would return to the Lions for the 2007 season.
