January 18th, 2007 → 8:42 am @ Seth Mnookin // No Comments
I’ve always been a fan of Rob Bradford’s writing, and I think it’s a crying shame that, for some unknown reason, he’s suffering in the purgatory of the Eagle-Tribune. He has another good article today, this one explaining that the Matsuzaka signing won’t mean nearly as much increased revenue for the Red Sox as most people think.
This is a point I’ve made before, but for some reason, people just don’t seem to get it. (Here’s what I wrote back on November 11: “The notion that this is a worthwhile investment solely because of the prospect of increased revenues from the Far East is a load of crap: every dollar the Sox earn is only worth about 50 cents; the other 50 cents goes into the revenue sharing pot, which essentially means the Sox are paying teams like the Orioles and the Blue Jays to continue to run their clubs in a determinedly bone-headed way…the better to bleed the Sox and the Yankees. Revenue sharing — and baseball economics in general — is a weird and confusing thing. There’s a bunch about it sprinkled in between shocking behind the scenes revelations and hilarious anecdotes in the book. Which, by the way, makes a great gift, and signed copies are available here.)
Anyway, that’s all still true. And Rob Bradford’s still worth reading. As often as possible.
Post Categories: Daisuke Matsuzaka & Revenue sharing & Rob Bradford
Jack
17 years ago
I never worried about the posting fee. What John Henry does with his money is his perogative. I just pretend it never happened. It’s like be bought another NASCAR team or yacht (neither of which would bring him any real revenue either)
As long as Theo’s player budget is not affected by the fee then the Dice-K contract at $6 million by 8 years (which is how it counts for luxury tax -and Theo’s- purposes) is likely the deal of the century.
The only potential (non-mlb-game-winning) benefit the Sox will reap for winning the Dice-K sweepstakes is an increased awareness in Japan where I have a feeling we’re going to start to see a lot of damn good ballplayers start to blossom. Now at least we stand a chance that they all might not be begging to become Yankees.
crimsonohsix
17 years ago
That’s Republican talk! And you say you’re from MA… For shame, for shame!
Jehosophat
17 years ago
Hypothetical:
American kid who is good at baseball and wants to travel the world ends up in Japan as a nineteen year-old. On a lark he tries out for and gets signed by, say, The Seibu Lions. Of course he develops into a phenom. Is he subject to the posting fee system? Does his American citizenship make him an exception? Should I ask the ever knowledgeable and proud father figure Murray?
Jehosophat
17 years ago
Not appropos of any post, but out of curiosity and actually, some concern, is it possible for you to find out how Pokey Reese is doing? There is nothing new on the web since he was released by the Marlins last March. As you know, he did positive things for us in ’04 and seemed like a good guy. It would be good to see him back in baseball somewhere.
P.S. I’m newly registered to the site and want to thank you for creating it. You’re on my daily list of Sox sites and have been since before FTM (which I enjoyed immensely) came out.
dbvader
17 years ago
Jehosophat,
I don’t have a definite answer to your question, but I can offer another situation. Alfonso Soriano played in the Central League for about a dozen games in 1997. He was signed as a free agent by the Yankees the following year. I don’t know whether he was a free agent because he wasn’t offered a contract or because he wasn’t subject to the posting arrangement between MLB and Japanese baseball.
Also, I recall that MLB vets that go to Japan are free to comeback when their contracts end. Again, whether this result stems from the players individual contract situations or a collective agreement, I do not know.