Down to the Wire

Got him, don't got him!

Given the utterly pathetic year my beloved Oakland Raiders are having (please play for that Number 1 draft pick and don't win another game, you morons!), I've followed the Red Sox negotiations with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka with great interest. D-Mat is supposedly the best pitcher in Japan right now, and Boston agreed to pay a whopping $51.1 million posting fee to his Japanese team, the Seibu Lions, just to talk to D-Mat-san. Now they are trying to finalize a six-year deal with D-Mat's representative, the real Devil's Advocate, the inimitable, super sports agent Scott Boras.

Mr. Boras is a balls-to-the-wall negotiator, and truly good at what he does. This is why he got A-Rod a ridiculous contract worth $252 million from the Texas Rangers a few years ago -- the most lucrative contract ever for a baseball player. This is why he just made Boston bid against itself (a real "no no" in any negotiation) and make two offers to his client without having received a counteroffer first. Boras is taking the justifiable position that the sizable posting fee Boston has offered to pay is utterly irrelevant to the value of his client. It is therefore no surprise that in true Boras fashion, the negotiations, which had a window of 30 days, are now down to the wire. The final deadline is 1 day, 11 hours from now. Earlier, if you include Boston's non-negotiable demand that D-Mat take a physical in Boston before a deal is finalized.

For their part, Boston is so serious about these negotiations that two-thirds of their brain trust flew out to L.A. yesterday, unsolicited, on owner John Henry's private plane to make another offer to D-Mat and meet with him personally. Boras, in another lovely stroke, has consistently refused to give them with personal access to D-Mat until a deal is done. Boras is threatening to have his client walk and go back to Japan if his number isn't met. D-Mat would then wait another year and do this all over again next year, when his worth will be much higher (assuming he doesn't suck it up this year or hurt himself), now that Boston has set the bar on his value. The nightmare scenario is that he signs with the Yankees next year for $800 million and a box of Reggie bars.

The wild card in all this? D-Mat's clearly stated desire to play in the major leagues this year, and his perception in Japan, where he has already said all his goodbyes, and where it is considered dishonorable to pursue money as a goal in itself. He is going to look pretty foolish if he goes back to Japan at this point, particularly when Boston has agreed to pay such a high fee to his former baseball team and is also offering to pay him a higher salary than has ever been paid to a Japanese player in Major League Baseball, including Ichiro and Matsui. Oh and the Seibu Lions are really counting on that $51.1 million, none of which they will receive if D-Mat fails to sign with Boston.

We're down to the wire, pee-pull. A deal needs to get done within hours, to give D-Mat enough time for the required physical, or D-Mat goes back to Japan and Boston starts looking at other options, including one Mr. Roger Clemens. Reports I have read say that Boston & Boras are $3 million/year apart. Boston's second offer is reported to be $8 million/year for six years, and D-Mat (Boras) reportedly countered at $11 million/year, for six years. One has to believe that if they are this close, something will happen, but these are the Red Sox, so anything is possible.

High drama. I'm cueing up "Tessie" by the Dropkick Murphys and crossing my fingers.

This is T. reporting live from his office in New York. More news at 11.

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SPECIAL NEWS REPORT -- BREAKING NEWS

We interrupt this blog entry with a special news report. "Tessie" by the Dropkick Murphys has worked once again. D-Mat or Dice-K or the Dice-Man -- whateveryouwanttocallhim has a preliminary agreement with the Boston Red Sox that will pay him $52 million over six years, plus escalation incentives. D-Mat flew cross-country with the Red Sox brass today, landing in Boston for the first time in his life.


Konichiwa, Dice-Man. Welcome to Boston. You have no idea what you are in for, my friend.

In slightly bigger news, the Red Sox also held a news conference today announcing the signing of one Julio Lugo, he of the concrete hands on defense and slightly above average bat.

This fulfills Boston's inexplicable obsession with this guy. I don't get it, but maybe he'll show me something. I think they are trying to form a team comprised entirely of David Ortiz's friends.

And in even BIGGER NEWS, Boston FINALLY signed backup catcher Doug Mirabelli!




Print up the World Series tickets, baby!