The Red Sox are Dumbshits
It was revealed tonight what the highest bid for Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was. The Red Sox paid $51.5M just to talk to the guy. If they don't sign him, the money is not paid. So now they have 30 days to decide how much more they want to pay for a pitcher they really know nothing about.
I've said it before, but this is a risk that teams should have been more cautious about. Unfortunately, we'll never know how much money the Mets and Yankees bid for him, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Red Sox bid up to $10M higher than the second-highest bidder. After paying that much, the Sox will no doubt try to land a long contract. If they pay him for four years and $70M, they'll end up spending $120M on someone who's completely unproven in the MLB.
There's no doubt in my mind that the Sox will sign him. Theo Epstein believes he's got a player to rival the Asian marketability of Hideki Matsui. Unfortunately, Matsuzaka never got any stunning reviews -- a lot of experts were unsure about the pitcher. And since they pitch less in Japan than America, he can end up falling flat when the Sox would need him the most, in the playoffs.
