Red Sox win right to negotiate with Japan's priciest baseball export yet
The Boston Red Sox Wednesday won the right to negotiate with Japanese star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka for more than 50 million dollars, setting a record that stunned even baseball professionals.
The Red Sox will pay 51.1 million dollars to Matsuzaka's Japanese club, Seibu Lions, just for the right to talk to the 26-year-old right-hander.
"I was shocked," Seibu Lions president Hidekazu Ota said of the payout.
But the Lions club, which is owned by railway and hotel conglomerate Seibu, stands to benefit handsomely.
Boston now has 30 days to seal a contract with Matsuzaka. If talks fail, Seibu can keep Matsuzaka for a ninth season but will lose the money.
Ota doubted that Matsuzaka would turn down the opportunity to play for the Red Sox, who won the World Series in 2004.
"When I told him the news, he said he was happy with both the team and the price," Ota told a news conference.
"I hope from my heart that he can make the dream he has had since he was 10 years old come true," Ota said.
The final price tag topped figures earlier reported in US media. Japanese journalists in the US said their American counterparts were in disbelief when told of the 51.1 million-dollar amount announced by Seibu.
Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said they were "excited" at the deal.
"We have long admired Mr Matsutaka's abilities and believe he will be a great fit with the Red Sox organization," said the 32-year-old, the youngest manager in baseball history.
Matsuzaka, who was due to leave Wednesday for the US, becomes the latest import to the Major Leagues, where more than one-quarter of players are now foreign-born, mostly from Latin America and Asia.
Domestic interest in the US national pastime has slipped in recent years in favor of more physical sports such as basketball, American football and, increasingly, soccer.
If Matsuzaka agrees to join the Red Sox, it would likely set off a further boom of Japanese interest in the US Major Leagues. Media here already closely cover US-based Japanese stars and broadcast their games live.
Boston trumped other US clubs -- reportedly including the New York Yankees -- for the rights to negotiate with the pitching sensation.
The Yankees feature top Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui, meaning Japanese fans could get the chance to watch Matsuzaka pitch him when the East Coast enemies face off.
"If Matsuzaka joins the Red Sox, we will have many face-offs," Matsui said. "I think the Major League fans in Japan will enjoy when we play in teams that are rivals."
The previous record for a Japanese player under blind bidding involved Ichiro Suzuki, who later went on to break the US record for hits in a season.
The Seattle Mariners in 2001 paid 13.1 million dollars to negotiate with Ichiro before signing him to a three-year deal worth 15 million dollars.
Ichiro earlier this year led the Japanese team in its hard-fought victory in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, a 16-nation event billed as baseball's answer to the World Cup.
Matsuzaka was named the Classic's most valuable player, spurring the interest of US talent scouts.
The Yokohama native has spent his entire eight-year career at Seibu, accumulating an 108-60 record with a 2.95 earned run average.
The Lions were bought in the late 1970s by Seibu's former boss, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who was considered the world's richest man at the height of Japan's economic miracle.
Tsutsumi had a spectacular fall in 2004, resigning as Seibu's chief and later pleading guilty to financial fraud charges.
AFP
