Comin or Goin?

Dec 12, 2006 11:12:23

Boras, Matsuzaka’s agent, disputed charges by John Henry, the Red Sox’s principal owner, that he had failed to negotiate with the team, but he gave a stagnant portrayal of their discussions. Theo Epstein, Boston’s general manager, and Larry Lucchino, the team president, met with Boras yesterday and have until midnight tomorrow to reach an agreement on a contract with Matsuzaka, a right-handed pitcher projected by many in baseball as a No. 1 starter. If no contract is reached, the Red Sox will not pay the $51.1 million posting fee to the Seibu Lions, the team Matsuzaka has pitched for since 1999, and he will have to return to Japan to pitch in 2007. Although Boras and the Red Sox are far apart in negotiations, Boras tried guiding the focus away from cash and toward how an offer affects Matsuzaka’s stature. “His biggest issue is the respect of the Japanese player,” Boras said. “The issue is he wants the Japanese player to be treated with respect in the American system. If he’s not respected, then he’ll go back to a system where he is respected.” Although Matsuzaka said it was his dream to pitch in the major leagues, and although he would face considerable criticism for going back home because of a squabble over money, Boras discussed that return as a strong possibility. Boras said the 26-year-old Matsuzaka could afford to be patient until he became an unrestricted free agent after the 2008 season. The financially strapped Lions do not want to lose $51 million, and they could post Matsuzaka after next season. But Boras, who has ridiculed the posting system, spoke more about 2008 than 2007. “What is his value as a free agent?” Boras said. “How much less is he willing to take to leave early? He realizes that you have to give up something to go early, but on the scale of American pitchers, he knows where he fits in.” Still, Boras’s plea for respect for Matsuzaka may not be understood by his fellow Japanese. Yasuko Yanagita, a reporter for the Japanese newspaper Hochi Shimbun, said Matsuzaka made $3 million last year. So if the Red Sox offered him $7 million a year, she said most Japanese fans would expect him to be content with doubling his salary. “People in Japan would understand what the respect is that Boras is talking about,” Yanagita said. “It’s money.” When Boras said Monday that Matsuzaka was worth well over $100 million, Epstein countered by saying the Red Sox were willing to make that significant a commitment. But the difference was that Boras’s assessment did not include the $51.1 million posting fee, and Epstein’s did. By having Epstein and Lucchino fly unsolicited to Southern California on Henry’s private plane Monday to present a second offer to Boras, the Red Sox believe they are being respectful of Matsuzaka. Epstein said the Red Sox would offer Matsuzaka more money than any Japanese player received in his first contract, meaning it is more than the three-year, $21 million deal that Hideki Matsui received from the Yankees. Mentioning that benchmark probably means the Red Sox have offered Matsuzaka around $8 million or $9 million a season. Boras said a pitcher of Matsuzaka’s caliber could make more than $100 million for five or six years, so he is seeking substantially more. “You can’t pay an historic posting price and then say he’s unproven,” Boras said. “His value is not consistent with a midlevel major league pitcher. The posting price represents his value in the marketplace.” Matsuzaka had told Japanese reporters that he hoped to sign a six-year deal to play in the majors, but since Boston won the right to negotiate with him, those thoughts have faded. Henry said the Red Sox were taking the fight to Boras’s doorstep “to try and have a negotiation,” but Boras said he had spoken to Epstein for eight straight days. Boras wants Matsuzaka, who was 17-5 with a 2.13 earned run average last season and who is 108-60 with a 2.95 E.R.A. in his career, to be treated as one of the best pitchers in the world, although he has never played in the major leagues. Boras said Matsuzaka had studied the contracts of the free-agent pitchers from this rich off-season, including Gil Meche’s five-year, $55 million deal from the Kansas City Royals. Meche has a career record of 55-44 with a 4.65 E.R.A. “Gil Meche is making $11 million a year,” Boras said. “This is a pitcher who was in the minor leagues in ’04 and has an injury history. This is a pitcher Matsuzaka watches because he is with Seattle. Daisuke knows he has a value that far exceeds that standard in today’s marketplace.” Epstein suggested Monday that the sides needed to agree by this morning because the Red Sox wanted Matsuzaka to travel to Boston for a physical examination. Boras dismissed Boston’s stricter deadline. “We have many doctors, many places to go,” Boras said. “I’ll leave that up to them. The deadline for me is the deadline that’s in the rules.” By JACK CURRY Published: December 13, 2006