Hello, my name is Shawn. This is where I put things. This site has been active since 2002. A lot has changed since then but basically I'm still writing ridiculous articles about ridiculous things. You can also look at my The best initial reaction to the Red Sox’ $51.1 million winning bid I’ve read so far is by Tom Verducci:
It would seem to be a stunning reversal of philosophy until you understand this: There is no more valuable commodity in the game than young ace pitchers, and the Red Sox boldly just redefined the value.
I definitely agree that this is not a departure from the Sox policy of setting a value on a player and sticking to it. It’s just that this time that value was extremely high. This caliber of player may not be available again by trade or free agent signing over the next 4 years.
The criticism is that if the Sox were willing to spend so much on Matsuzaka, why did they not sign Johnny Damon or trade for Bobby Abreu due to financial concerns? The reason is obvious to me: overspending on good veteran talent is a lot different than overspending on great young talent. It’s not that the Red Sox aren’t willing to spend money, it’s that they will save their money for when it really counts. I’ll take Matsuzaka over the combined efforts of Damon and Abreu any day.
Make no mistake, the Yankees feel burned. Matsuzaka would have been a perfect fit for the Yankees and solidified their playoff chances for years. It’s hard to put a price on (preventing) that.
It’s also worth reading Gammons piece on the deal (subscription required). Specifically:
Second, the Red Sox strongly want to build an Asian foundation. When Theo Epstein left the Red Sox last fall, after he turned down the Dodger job, he worked with two Japanese teams as a consultant. Epstein believes in the next decade the mass of baseball talent coming out of Asia will alter the landscape, and his owners want to be entrenched in Japan as well as China;