Mets getting a crack at Matsuzaka?

The value is he gets to come to the Major Leagues, where he will make money and compete against the best players in the world. He wants this, therefore it has value.

Lilly and Meche got insane contracts because they were complete free agents, which Matsuzaka is not. The Red Sox paid $51 million for that leverage, for the opportunity to sign him when he is not a total free agent.

He's not going to get the same money as he would on the open market, though that is exactly what Boras is asking. That is why the deal hasn't been done. Boras wants his client to be treated like a free agent now even though he isn't one.

 

Arbitration and the right to ply one's trade in an open market are priveleges that only those with time served in MLB receive. The union negotiated those terms and this guy isn't yet a member, so he doesn't get the luxury. Undeserving as Meche and Lilly may be, they have served their time and under the labor rules in place are then released into the general pool, where they are able to play one team against the other and cash in on what the most willing (or, in these cases, the dumbest) owner is willing to pay them. You do not get to do that until you have reached a service level.

The Red Sox essentially purchased the kid's freedom and that gives them certain rights of negotiation and, yeah, puts the kid at their mercy. The bitch of the posting system for Boras is that he cannot play one owner against another and thus, the contract total is never going to be that high. He wants to fight that and he eventually will probably win, but now he has to sign with the team who posted or tell his kid to head on back to Seibu with hat in hand. Yes, the Red Sox are now in a position of leverage. It's a position they'd be dumb not to use, but this is hardly abuse.

If Boras doesn't like it, maybe he should give up two years on this deal, make it a 3-year, $24 million deal and let his boy go out on the free market when it's done. That leaves him just a year longer than he would have to wait to hit the free market were he to stay in Japan and gives him the ability to really cash in when it's all over. That said, Boras knows his client is very likely not the kind of pitcher who will fetch $15 million per on the open market after his ability is established -- if for no other reason than that so very few are -- so he's trying to Lotto Boston right now, because he knows it is probably his only chance.

Both sides are standing firm, but Boras will blink. That he's calling out and looking for help shows he's at the end of his rope. The kid simply will not go back to Japan.

 

Problem is this -- you would never bid $51.1 million to negotiate with Ted Lilly, Gil Meche or anyone else you hope to stash at the back end of your rotation. The only reason you bid $51.1 million for his rights is if you believe he's an ace who can anchor your staff for years to come.

You can't bid that sort of money, then not even offer Gil Meche money and claim it's in good faith. Miguel Batista just got three years, $24 million from the Mariners -- you would think Mats is worth more than the $8 million he makes.

If the Red Sox want him, they ought to pay him like he merited $51.1 million to his rights. Otherwise, just call off the talks and go home right now.

 

Those teams didn't have to pay anything to negotiate with Lilly or Meche, and do you really think the Royals are thinking of Meche as a 4th or 5th starter?

This comes back to the same argument I made earlier. That $51.1 million the Red Sox are going to pay Seibu if they can sign Matsuzaka has value to Matsuzaka. It buys him the chance to get out of his committment to Japan.

They did what it took to ensure that they got his rights, knowing that part of what they purchased was the kind of bargaining leverage the Royals didn't have with Meche and the Cubs didn't have with Lilly. That was part of the value for them. How is it fair to ask the Red Sox to pay as if they are competing with the rest of baseball twice? It isn't.

Don't just compare the Red Sox's offer to the handful of pitchers fortunate enough to be free agents in this offseason of insane spending. Compare it to the rest of baseball and I don't see how Boston is being unreasonable at all. If you can prove bad faith in the bid, fine.

I think it is more a matter of Boston using the leverage it has, believing Boras will blink and accept a reasonable offer rather than have his client go back to Japan.

 

I may be wrong, but I recall reading somewhere that if Boston doesn't pony up then Boras has the ability to pay Seibu which would make Matsuzaka a free agent on the open market.

If that is the case, Boston should be wary and should stop dicking around.

 

So, what was Boston paying for in the bidding process? It was for the right of advantage to negotiate. Not the right to be cornholed by Matz and Boras.

They certainly were not paying that kind of money to then get to act like the kid is a free agent. He's not a free agent so he shouldn't be paid like a free agent. They paid for his rights to leave the country, thus they gain a certain advantage. Of course, he has every right to walk away. The bottom line for Matz has to be, "am I better off in Boston or back in Seibu waiting another year to post or two years when I am unrestricted?"

You're suggesting the Red Sox should treat this process like the free-market bidding process that Lilly and Meche just took advantage of when it is not. It's one team and one player and everybody knows the terms. You do not get your freedom purchased and then act like you did them a favor by letting them buy it. He's not holding all the cards. He will one day, but that day is not today. Today, the Red Sox are holding the cards and to expect them to bid against themselves is silly.

 

No, that hasn't been established. Boras keeps arguing that he can do that, but I thought MLB released a statement saying that wasn't the case.

 

For starters, when I talked about stashing pitching like Lilly or Meche at the back end of the rotation, I was thinking in terms of how the Red Sox would view them, because that's the only point of view in play here. They wouldn't see Mats as someone who's the fourth or fifth starter -- they see him as an ace who can pick up where Schilling leaves off when he retires (should he retire, I might say) after this season.

Yes, they did what it took to ensure that they got his rights. But if they hadn't, someone else would have.

And with Boras doing the negotiations, do you really think that bid was all about bargaining leverage? It's Boras, you know that he's got angles to play, the biggest of which is the $51.1 million. You don't pay that money to negotiate with someone who translates to a fourth or fifth starter, so why negotiate with him like he is?

I hardly feel for the Red Sox here. They paid $106 million to J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo. If they wanted Mats so bad with the price tag they knew Boras wanted, maybe they should have redirected that money elsewhere.

 

Actually, Boras has been asking for a three-year deal all along. He wants Matsuzaka to get out on the free market ASAP. The Sox are pushing for a four or five-year deal.

Boras is trying to get more money for his client or fewer years. The Sox are balking at both.

Anyone else find it funny that the Red Sox let A-Rod go over a few million dollars and now are about to spend more per year (including the posting fee) on a guy who has never thrown a pitch in the major leagues? Evil Empire, my ass.

 

I don't see how MLB could rule over whether or not a third party can purchase the rights of the player. It would be no different than if a Dominican team decided to buy his rights after the Red Sox failed to close the deal.

 

I don't think you can compare how the Red Sox would see Lilly or Meche if they signed them when comparing what those pitchers got to what the Red Sox want to spend on Matsuzaka. The Red Sox didn't give Meche and Lilly those contracts, so they obviously didn't believe those guys had that kind of value.

You have to look at the roles those guys are being paid for. Meche is being brought in as Kansas City's ace, isn't he? Lilly is proably the No. 2 or 3 starter for the Cubs, depending on Prior's health, and the Cubs really don't have a reliable option other than Zambrano.

I don't feel for the Red Sox, either. I thought the bid was ridiculous and I don't like the team. But I do think they are being held up to some unfair comparisons here.

 

If that's the case, then they might as well make him a free agent and not bother with the posting process at all, because there would be no value whatsoever to winning the posting.