Well it’s official. The Boston Red Sox and Daisuke (Dice-K) Matsuzaka have reached a preliminary agreement on a 6 yr $52 million dollar contract. There are escalator clauses in his contract that could raise the total to $60 million dollars. All of this of course is pending the results of his physical.

The Red Sox will now spend the day finalizing up the contract details, getting the contract written and off to MLB by 11:59 PM on Thursday night. Otherwise they lose the rights to him. I can assure you this won’t happen now.

This brings the total for Dice-K to a whopping $103.1 million dollars. $51.1 million of that will go to the Seibu Lions, who control the rights to Matsuzaka. I am sure the Red Sox will recoup this money quick as his signing will bring in new yen dollars to the ball club.

It’s been a topsy-turvey day today here in Red Sox Nation. But one I am glad is over. Theo and the boys finally didn’t screw up something. Maybe winning the World Series back in 2004 really did break the “Curse of the Bambino”.

UPDATE: Well as soon as I post this, I find out the good news. It is official. Dice-K has passed his physical and signed the contract with the Red Sox at the hospital. It is a 6 yr $52 million dollar deal. I will have more on this in the morning and as tomorrow goes on. Expect the Red Sox to hold the press conference in the afternoon on Thursday. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dice-K, Seibu Lions

Ok, theres so much happening in Red Sox Nation that I am sure most of your heads are spinning like mine. So I will be do the best to sort it all out for you.

As I stated in the last post, at 3:00 PM Dec 13th, NESN reported and confirmed that a deal with Daisuke Matsuzaka is either done or imminent. No matter what everything has to be done by midnight tomorrow night or there is no deal. This means anything and everything that both sides need to do needs to be done. I hope people at the MLB offices are working late tomorrow.

The deal with J.D. Drew is being held up right now due to a formality in his contract. It was thought he would be announced as officially signed at the press conference today that was held to announce the signing of Julio Lugo. The only person who can take care of the formality in Drew’s contract unfortunately is Scott Boras, who is on the plane with Dice-K back to Boston. J.D. Drew has returned home and I am sure will be back very shortly once Mr. Boras works out the Matsuzaka deal.

As I just mentioned, the Red Sox officially announced that Julio Lugo is joining them as their shortstop for the next 4 years at a price tag of $36 million dollars. He will wear #23 for them. It is expected that he will be the leadoff hitter for the Sox next season. Terry Francona said that during the press conference that Lugo’s main job is to score runs. His defense in no where near as good as Alex Gonzalez’s was but his bat is 1000x better.

Lastly, NESN is also reporting that Doug Mirabelli will be back next season for the Red Sox as Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher and back up to Jason Varitek. The deal is supposedly a 1 year deal and terms were not disclosed.

All in all a good day for the Red Sox as most of the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall together. I would have to think the J.D. Drew matter will be resolved by the end of the week.

UPDATE 6:00 PM: Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe is reporting that Matsuzaka is on his way to Mass. General right now for his physical examination. I guess this means a deal must be done since why would he take a physical if there wasn’t a contractual agreement. More to follow later hopefully at a press conference.

And a special treat to those of you have never seen Matsuzaka pitch. Enjoy these videos after the jump.

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On Dec 13th, the Atlanta Tip-off Club announced it’s top 50 list for the Naismith Trophy sponsored by Cingular Wireless. Included on this list were Renee Montgomery and Charde Houston. Houston was also included in the top 30 preseason watch list for the Wooden Award.

The Naismith Trophy is given annually to the top player in both women’s and men’s basketball. The Atlanta Tip-off club bases it’s criteria on the player’s performances from last season and their expectations for the upcoming season.

Currently, Renee Montgomery is second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.8 points. Houston leads the team in scoring at 14.5 pts a game. Both were also named to the All Big East pre-season team (Montgomery: 1st team, Houston: Honorable Mention).

The Lady Huskies will return to action on Monday, Dec 18th when they face the University of Virgina in Charlottesville, VA. The team is currently in the midst of their final exams.

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, Naismith Trophy, Women’s Basketball

On Tuesday, the Red Sox met with Daisuke Matsuzaka Scott Boras to discuss their latest contract offer for Matsuzaka’s services. Nothing came of it as far as we know. What we do know is the Red Sox made an offer that was bigger than any Japanese player has gotten. Which means it’s larger than the 3 yrs $21 million dollars Hideki Matsui got when he signed with the Evil Empire.

Basically to me, it was a wasted day for the Sox. They had thought they were meeting with Matsuzaka but never did. They had met with Boras all day, then went back over for a nightcap. That meeting didn’t last as long as they had hoped and were also wanting to meet with Matsuzaka himself but never did.

So folks its getting down to crunch time for the brass from Beantown. Supposedly they are leaving Wednesday morning to head back to Boston with or without Matsuzaka. If they do leave with him, I hope they charge Boras by the mile to fly with them. I had my hopes up the other day that a deal might get done, but it’s not looking great. I guess now Theo and the boys can focus on bringing Roger Clemens back to Boston for one final season. Oh yeah and by the way, we still don’t have a closer.

UPDATE 10:20 AM: ESPN.com is reporting that the Red Sox have offered Matsuzaka 6 yrs $48 million dollars and that Boras countered with 6 yrs $66 million dollars. While that might not seem like progress, Boras has finally come down on his asking price. It will be interesting to see how the day plays out for both sides. I plan to monitor the situation and I will keep you updated.

UPDATE 12:05 PM: Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald is reporting that Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Boras will be boarding Red Sox owner John Henry’s plane to fly back to Boston. There is no deal yet but his sources say that they are working on contract language and incentives to be included in the contract. This is good news for us in Red Sox Nation because you would think if the deal wasn’t getting done Matsuzaka would not have flown to Boston. Get the sushi ready Beantown, Matsuzaka Mania is about to hit the town.

UPDATE 2:00 PM: Steve Phillips of ESPN is reporting that a tentative deal is in place. Of course its all speculation right now. Until I hear something from Theo or Boras, I won’t take too much stock in this one. This whole situation has had more curves than the Pacific Coast Highway. They should arrive in Boston around 6:30 PM EST and we can only hope there is a press conference letting us know whats going on. Keep your fingers crossed Sox fans.

“You should assume a deal is close or done,” an official with knowledge of the negotiations said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

UPDATE 2:40 PM: According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, the Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka have reached an agreement on a 6 yr 52.5 million dollar deal. The deal could reach $60 million dollars with escalator clauses. This is the first reports we are hearing of a done deal. So right now, it seems as though the Sox have spent a total of $104 million dollars on the young Japanese pitcher. If you would like to see where they are in the country on the plane, check out this link.

UPDATE 3:00 PM: NESN has reported and confirmed that a deal is either done or is imminent.

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Scott Boras, Roger Clemens, Theo Epstein

I know it’s a little early to talk about the 2007 college football season for the UCONN Huskies but the program got a big boost on Monday when Junior College All-American Tyler Lorenzen committed to the Huskies for next season. He will enroll in classes in January and be eligible to participate in spring practices. He will be competing for the job with incumbent QB DJ Hernandez and redshirt sophomore Dennis Brown (no relation to Donald Brown II).

Lorenzen, a lefty, is also a double threat QB. He passed for 2,690 yards with 26 touchdowns and 3 interceptions and also rushed for 836 yards with 8 rushing touchdowns. Lorenzen originally attended Iowa State as walk on where he spent two years. He played one season in junior college at Palomar College in California. He will have two years of eligibility left.

This is good news for Huskies fans. We may have our best quarterback in Storrs since Dan Orlovsky left in 2004 for the NFL. The commitment from Lorenzen was the 5th received by UCONN coach Randy Edsall over the weekend. He received commitments from a tight end, two safeties, defensive back, and Lorenzen at QB.

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, football, Randy Edsall

On Tuesday, Dec 12th, Gabe Kapler retired from the Boston Red Sox and announced his retirement from baseball as a player. Subsequently there after, he was hired by the Red Sox to manage their South Atlantic League team in Greenville, SC.

Kapler came to the Red Sox in 2003 to be a backup outfielder. In, 2004, him and the “idiots” won a World Series while he and Kevin Millar provided leadership for the Sox that year when they were struggling. In 2005, he left to go play for the Yankees of Japan, Yomiuri Giants, but didn’t produce there. He returned to the States and was resigned quickly by the Sox where he played sparingly as a backup outfielder before rupturing his Achilles tendon. He returned the Red Sox last season after his rehab and played in 72 games for the Sox hitting .254 with 2 hrs. It might not have been his bat last season but rather his leadership that helped the Red Sox endure the trials and tribulations of last season.

“I have been thinking about this transition for many years, and believe this to be the right time,” Kapler said. “This will afford me the opportunity to make an impact in the lives of young men, not only to help them develop as baseball players, but also — more importantly — as human beings.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the lives I have an opportunity to impact at this point. Essentially, it’s going to school. You’re going to learn how to manage. You’re going to learn when for the first time you’re put in that situation with the game on the line, to make a decision. You’re going to learn the first time a guy … does something stupid, how you are going to handle that situation.”

I had the opportunity to meet Gabe Kapler back in 1998 at the Bic Double-A allstar game when I worked for the New Haven Ravens. We were hosting the game and a few of us were working late and stopped by to grab a bite to eat before getting the field ready during the night. He stopped us and asked us what we did there so we told him and talked to him for a bit. Kapler was a 57th round draft choice who worked hard to get where he is now. But the one thing that always stuck with me from meeting him was him telling us stories of being a fitness model. Playing in the minor leagues and being a late round draft choice doesn’t really pay the bills. Honestly neither does working in it. We all did it for the love of the game. My point is he pulled out the cover of a magazine to show us him on the cover. What kind of person does that? Well he did. Later that season, all his hard work had paid off and he made his big league debut with the Detroit Tigers.

Good luck to ya Gabe on the managing job. Your gonna need it. Just remember one thing, there’s no chartered plane in the SALLY league. Trust me, I know. I spent a season working in Podunk, GA. Well actually, Albany, GA.

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Gabe Kapler