Happy Matsuzaka Eve!

The reports from over the really big pond today indicate that the Seibu Lions, current holders of the rights to pitching pinup Daisuke Matsuzaka have closed out the bidding for the negotiation rights and will convene their meeting to decide about awarding these rights tomorrow morning (U.S. Eastern time). It is anticipated, by every website or radio report I have heard, that the Red Sox are very much in the game to win those negotiating rights.

Winning the negotiating rights ("the posting fee") could cost the Sox, or whoever wins this thing, upwards of $30 million. That, however, does not count against the payroll for luxury tax purposes. This is one reason why I think the Sox could be major players for Matsuzaka (and Iwamura, for that matter). The Sox, since the Henry/Lucchino/Werner team took over, has been all about growing their markets. Beginning with those silly "Red Sox Nation" membership cards to adding seats at Fenway to redoing their TV and radio deals, they want to grow this pie. Japan is a big fat, well-funded, and largely untapped market. Sure, the Yankees and the Mariners have somewhat of a following, but the Sox? Nada. Even when we had Hideo Nomo, management didn't try to spin that into Japanese broadcast revenues the way that this front office would. Investing $35 million for Matsuzaka and maybe $20 million for Iwamura would kick open those doors, like Captain Larry and the Red Ships sailing into Tokyo harbor. Stop me if I'm getting too carried away here.

In other news, the Yankees sent Jaret Wright off to Baltimore, where he'll pitch next year. The O's have to pay only $3 million of his $7 million salary, with the Yankees eating the rest. It's basically an admission that they blew this one. At least Wright will still be stinking up the mound in the AL East, but this time the Yankees will benefit as much as the Sox do.

Also, Aramis Ramirez and the Cubs settled on a new deal, something like 5 years, $73 million. I like that deal. I certainly wouldn't have paid Ramirez that much, but if truth be told, that's probably slightly below what he would have gotten from another team on the open market this offseason. Heck, he signed only a couple of weeks into the free-agent season. He got his security, and gets to continue being a fan favorite at Wrigley, where it's really cool to be a fan favorite. The Cubs get one of the top-producing third basemen in the game for a few more years at a slight discount. It's all good in the Windy City.