How did the Red Sox sign that Japanese pitcher for so little money, relatively speaking?

Question

6 years for $56MM? An ace pitcher should be worth $14MM-$16MM per year.

So this guy agreed to be underpaid because his Japanese team makes $50MM? That doesnt sound like something either the pitcher or Boras would agree to.

...because of that were the case, why not sign for 3 years or something and then renegotiate.

Answer 1

Hasn't proved himself in the major leagues and Boston had to spend the money to buy his rights from the Japanese team.

Answer 2

quite simply if he demanded 14-16 million a year the Sox would not have signed him.

They are paying 100+million for 6 years of Matsuzaka (posting fee as well). There is no way they would pay 150million.

Its the nature of the posting system, while Matsuzaka only is earninng 9million a year, the Red Sox average spending on him is about 18million. He is not getting ace money, but the Sox are paying ace money.

And its still 6-8 million a year more than he earned in Japan, so its not like its a bad deal for Matsuzaka, plus all the earnings he will get in endorsements.

As for the length of the deal, The Sox had to make it long, they need many year to recoup their bid money out of earnings in Japan, they would not sign a deal for any less than 5-6 years, otherwise its not worth it. And Matsuzaka probably wants to sign a long deal, its guaranteed money. If he fails, he still gets the money for 6 years, if it was a 3 year contract, it might be the only one he gets.

And its not like 56million is pocket change, its a lot of money.

Answer 3

Personally, I don't think that nearly $10 million a year for a pitcher who has never competed in the Major Leagues is a "little amount of money"...but it still was an incredible deal given that D-Mat's agent, Scott Boras was seeking a 6-7 year deal in the $100-$120 million range.

Basically, I think it came down to this. Matsazuka wanted to play in the US. The Siebu Lions wanted to keep the $51.11 million dollars from the Red Sox. The Red Sox wanted to add a starter. Scott Boras wants to ensure that other Japanese imports go to him to be their agent.

So in the end, everyone had their own agenda and it came down to the wire, but the Red Sox held tough and didn't give into Boras. They knew that if they didn't get D-Mat, they could take that $51 million and spend it on Roger Clemens or Jeff Suppan or Barry Zito or a plethora of other mid-level starters to fill holes in the rotation. Boras didn't want to lose face in front of a large contingent of Japanese ballplayers looking to play in the states and D-Mat, well he simply wanted to pitch in the US and I don't think money was nearly as big of an issue for him.

All-in-all it's a win-win for everyone, except maybe the rest of the AL East.

Answer 4

each human being already understand Matsuzaka. enable me inform you about Hideki Okajima. Okajima (30 years previous) has been with jap specialist Baseball League for the previous 12 years (11 years with Tokyo Giants and a million 365 days with Nippon Ham combatants). His career list is 34 win, 32 lose, 40-one keep with 3.36 era (2.14 this previous season). Okajima is a left-hand reliever and correctly commonplace for pitching without searching at batters (no kidding! you'll see). After asserting an FA this season, seven MLB golf equipment needed him as a reliever and setupper. pink Sox gained him with the most important money between the 7 golf equipment. i'm constructive Matsuzaka and Okajima would have an excellent impact on pink Sox next season.

Answer 5

I think the there are some real questions about this. One rumor is that the Japanese team is helping pay him from the 51 million the Sox payed them. Which is wrong and should be investigated by mlb. If the Yankees tried to pull this. Everyone would be screaming.
Also, I think they might get burned. Alot of these Japanese pitchers don't work out. Pitching to MLB player is much different than pitching to Japanese hitters.

Answer 6

The bottom line was leverage. Matsusaka could only negotiate with ONE TEAM or wait a year and try again, when again it would only be ONE TEAM. In two years he could hit the open market, but in the process of waiting, he'd have cost himself $16M.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure Boras got the best possible deal - he always does - but with limited leverage, there was only so much he could do.

Answer 7

the reason is that the agent, Scott Borus, is only negotiation with one team. only one team is going after him os he cant raise the price using the excuse that another team has a higher offer. also, he can only sign with boston since if he goes back to japan, he will only make 3 million and have to wait till 2008 before he can be a free agent again in america. its all bout money

Answer 8

well first of all it's 6 years for 52 million dollars and second of all if you add the 51 million dollars that they had to dole out to the seibu lions which was matsuzaka's japanese team then the total would be 103 million dollars

Answer 9

You are obviously forgetting that they had to pay 51 Limmion to just negotiate with the Japanese Pitcher.

Im not sure if he's worth the money or more, but he sure is a hopeful.

Answer 10

True, but don't forget they had to pay 51 million to the Seibu Lions of Japan just to negotiate with him. That makes him worth 107 million. That is why is contract seems so "little."