Daisuke Matsuzaka Strikes Gold In Signature Deal

Upper Deck has signed Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to an exclusive memorabilia and autograph deal. Matsuzaka will make about $150 per autograph that Upper Deck will sell for $450 for english autographs and $550 for Kanji inscriptions. Of course Boston Dirt Dogs is all over this and to how I take it are all over Matsuzaka for the high priced deal. I say good for Matsuzaka, if at the price set they sell a lot of autographs and he makes money good, afterall he signed a contract with Boston for much less then he could have gotten if he had stayed in Japan another year and then moved to the majors.

Who Is The American League Rookie Of The Year?

Many months ago I made a very foolish comment with my Rookie of the Year prediction. I stated that the award was Delmon Young's to lose. It's not that I didn't have faith in rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia or Japanese import Daisuke Matsuzaka, it was because unlike Pedroia Delmon Young had a solid late season call up with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. As I write this and look back I realize that I put to much emphasis on the late season call ups, Pedroia is far and away the best rookie in the American League this year. Pedroia's .328 average and solid defense is more then enough to lead him to the award this fall, but the question remains, how good is he? We all know the early season struggles Pedroia suffered through, it was as painful for the Red Sox fans who stood by him as much as it was for Pedroia himself. Yet manager Terry Francona stood by his young second baseman and it has paid off big time. Since the Red Sox traveled to Minnesota May 5, Pedroia has been on a tear through American League pitching, but can you call three and a half months a tear or perhaps what it really is, the real Pedroia playing to his everyday potential after the horrible baptism to Major League baseball. If we were to wipe April and the first two games of May from his stat sheet Pedroia suddenly is a .358 hitter with a .415 OBP. Delmon Young is batting .293 with only four more home runs then Pedroia, and Young is advertised as a power hitting outfielder who many expected to have displayed much more power this season then he has, he also has two less runs scored then Pedroia. THe only thing in the way of Pedroia winning the Rookie of the Year award is going to be a possible vote split with Daisuke Matsuzaka, aside from that they can engrave his name on the award now.

Future On Display

Beggining tomorrow and lasting throughout most of the remainder of the season, the future of the Boston Red Sox will be on display at Fenway Park. Portland and Lowell will both play games at Fenway on Saturday while the Sox are playing in Baltimore. Portland will play the Harrisburg Senators (Washington) while Lowell plays the Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Bay). The Lowell game is at 12:05 followed by Portland. In just a couple weeks a handful of top prospects could find themeselves with a September callup. Jacoby Ellsbury is one who is very likely to get the call to provide speed off the bench down the stretch. Should he continue his solid play from earlier this year when he was up he could also find himself on the bench in the playoffs. Boston won't discount the importance of a speedster on the bench, its the very reason they won the World Series in 2004. George Kottaras could also find himself in Fenway park in September. He is the only minor league catcher on the Sox 40 man roster and they would love to have a third catcher around to give Varitek added rest, assuming the division race isnt close. There are no infielders on the 40 man roster who aren't already in Boston. The Red Sox do have 2 spots on the 40 man roster open and also can move Brendan Donnelly to the 60-day disabled list if they needed another spot. We know Bobby Kielty likely will be called up sooner then later and that would require a spot, though his arrival would depend on Wily Mo Pena's departure which would clear another spot. Another spot to be taken on the 40 man will be for Clay Buchholz and that could be as soon as next week when the Sox play a double header. Buchholz has been dominant in the minors this year and could join a powerful young rotation next year that will include Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester. Other pitchers who could see time in Fenway in September are Javy Lopez who was recently sent down to make room for Curt Schilling, Craig Hansen who has been very good the past several weeks and Craig Breslow could provide another solid left handed arm from the bullpen. Brandon Moss could join Ellsbury in the outfield mix in September after a recent three day stay with the Sox in California.

Daisuke's Nike Commercial

One of the best Nike commercials ever! More later on his debut.

The $52 Million Man

Daisuke Matuzaka has 52 million reasons to smile and he knows it. *UPDATE* 11:26PM ESPNNews has just reported that Matsuzaka has passed his physical, this comes about 30 minutes after Scott Boras confirmed the deal to ESPN.com. A complete rap on the story in the morning. Midflight from Orange County, California to Bedford, Massachusetts, Scott Boras and Theo Epstein finalized a deal that would pay Matsuzaka $52 million over the next 6 seasons, theres oportunity for an additional $8 in incentives. Upon arriving at Laurence G Hanscom Airforce Base in John Henry's private jet this evening, Matsuzaka, Boras, Epstein and company were loaded into a motorcade with a police escort to head to Massachusetts General Hospital so Matsuzaka's physical could be performed to finalize the deal that needs to be completed by midnight tomorrow. On Monday, the plane carrying Epstein and Luccino was deverted from its original flight plan that had it going to William P Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas according to flight records from flightaware.com. The plane then headed to John Wayne Airport in Orance County. Theres no explanation for the original course being Houston other then Boston having thought there was no way to geta Matsuzaka deal done and they were planning a meeting with Clemens, its possible then word got to them that a deal could still happen and they diverted the plane to meet in person with Boras and Matsuzaka.

Susumu Higashi!

Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Boras have boarded John Henry's plane for the flight back to Boston. Sources close to the negotiations said no deal is finished, but the sides are close to a final deal. With a deal possibly being done before they land in Boston, the Red Sox have just about wrapped up there likely #2 starter next season. Should Matsuzaka sign and start the second game of the season, that would set up a media frenzy at Fenway Park for the home opener, baring any rainouts Matsuzaka would be inline to throw his first Fenway pitch to Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki.

It's Official

Konnichiwa! And it's now official. Boston has won the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka for $51.1 Million.

Daisuke Matsuzaka Stats

Boston Tops Matsuzaka Bids

According to numerous sources including Peter Gammons, the Red Sox have topped the bidding for Japanese star Daisuke Matsuzaka. The winning bid is rumored to be anywhere from $30-50 Million dollars. The bid only allows the team the right to negotiate with the player, should they fail to sign him within the 30 day limit he returns to Japan and the Sox would be off the hook for the bid cost. We will have much more when the deal is officially announced either at 8pm tonite or 8pm tomorrow night as both MLB and Japan officials have been giving different times.