December 10th, 2006 → 3:59 pm @ Seth Mnookin // No Comments
I sure as hell hope it’s not true…but that doesn’t stop me from fully appreciating the Herald‘s headline on Michael Silverman’s story about the disintegrating negotiations between the Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka: “Tumblin’ Dice.”
Even in light of Scott Boras’s well-publicized track record of shortening players’ careers in order to snare some extra dough, I think this deal will go down. Matsuzaka doesn’t want to return to Japan, the Seibu Lions don’t want him back, and there’s no other dog in this hunt. If it’s true that the Sox are at $8 mil a year and Boras is closer to $14 or $15 mil, I’d bet on Matsuzaka receiving an annual salary in the neighborhood of $10 or $11 million when the deal is done. Whatever the case, you can bet Boras’ll burn the candle right down.
Post Categories: 2006 Hot Stove Season & Daisuke Matsuzaka & Explicit References to Rolling Stones Lyrics & Oblique references to Grateful Dead lyrics & Scott Boras
drleather2001
17 years ago
Isn’t “Deal” technically a Jerry Garcia solo song?
Also, it does look like the yearly salaries of 6’s, 7’s, and 9’s ($million) won’t quite hack it.
sorry, couldn’t help it.
It’s an interesting question, and depends on how you define ownership as far as Dead/JGB songs go. I’d say this is a Dead tune: as far as I know, they introduced it at this show in Port Chester, New York in 1971 (that show also featured the first Bird Song) and it’s associated much more with the Dead than with JGB. In fact, I’d say almost all of the songs on Garcia are generally regarded as Dead songs, while the songs on Cats Under the Stars, for whatever reason, never made it into the band’s repertoire.
I know…you were only joking. But, you know…
— Seth
tinisoli
17 years ago
I feel a little sorry for the reporters who have to cover the Daisuke story, because they’re essentially reduced to working for the PR departments of both the Sox and Boras. The Herald scoop is clearly coming from the Sox, and obviously Boras has played the media, too. At the end of the day on December 14 the Sox have the leverage, period. Boras will do whatever he can to suggest otherwise, not to be a dick but because it’s in the best interest of himself and his client. If he simply acquiesced and admitted that the circumstances of this player, the posting system, and this player’s culture were making it easy for the Sox, he’d be doing a terrible job as an agent. He’s got to make it appear that the Daisuke just might say no.
MarshallDog
17 years ago
I’m pretty worried that this deal won’t go through. My biggest concern is that Boras has no intention of even talking to the Red Sox again about Matsuzaka; his secretaries are probably instructed not to answer the phone until half an hour before the deadline. He probably hasn’t even spoken to Matsuzaka to update him on the contract talks.
I don’t trust Boras at all. I think he might have gotten Matsuzaka as a client just so he could sabotage any potential deal and use that as proof that the posting system is bad for baseball.
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17 years ago
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