The Second Coming Of Irabu

If you take everything into account, Daisuke Matsuzaka is about to become MLB's most valuable player in terms of dollars, and that's beyond ridiculous. As far as I'm concerned there is only player who is worth that kind of money, and that is none other than Steve Nebraska. The cool kids will get that. Here's what we know:

1. The Boston Red Sox had a winning bid of $51.11 million
2. Scott Boras is Daisuke's agent

The key bullet above is number two. If Scott Boras is involved, you're paying top dollar. And you're likely paying more than the player is worth. It's being speculated that Matsuzaka is going to end up with a yearly salary of roughly $8-12 million per year. For argument's sake, let's call it $10 million, and personally I think that's low. There is also speculation that Boras is going to angle for a 3 year deal so Daisuke can be a free agent before he's 30. The Sox I'm sure will want a 5-year deal, so they can understandably make more of their $51 million dollar investment. Boras will want 3, the Sox will want 5, so for argument's sake, we'll call it 4 years.
Now I know the posting fee doesn't count toward the salary, but for all intents and purposes, it kind of does, sort of. If Daisuke spends 4 years in Boston, that's roughly another $12.75 million per year if you take into account the posting fee spread out over 4 years. For those that are mathematically challenged, the Red Sox are going to pay roughly $22 plus million per year for Matsuzaka's services, or roughly $91 million in total. And that will likely come in closer to the $100 million mark. Matsuzaka? A guy who has never thrown one pitch in MLB? Someone tell me how this makes sense? 2 words: Hideki Irabu
And if you're wondering, I'd say the same thing if the Yankees were the winners of the Matsuzaka sweepstakes, especially if they bid $50 million for a guy that's going to play once every 5 days. I wanted him in the Bronx, but at that price tag, no thank you. That kind of money is much better spent on quantity AND quality. Think about what you could get for $100 million over 4 years.
Yikes.
J