November 14th, 2006 → 11:10 am @ Seth Mnookin // No Comments
More reports (these coming from Peter Gammons) that the Sox won the bidding for the right to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka; the latest reports tab that bid at $42 million. At this point, there’s not a lot to say until the official announcement is made at 8 pm tonight…and after that point, there won’t be much to say until the Sox (or whichever team managed to outbid Boston and fly completely under the radar) sign/fail to sign Matsuzaka to a deal.
That’s not all that’s going on in Boston: in today’s Globe, Nick Cafardo reports that Theo has made offers to two other unnamed free agent pitchers; there’s also lots of discussion about what a Matsuzaka signing would mean for the Red Sox’s presence in Japan.
In other Matsuzaka-related news, Murray Chass tries to outdo his recent boneheadedness with today’s column, in which he demonstrates that:
* He sucks at math: Chass says the Red Sox bid is in the “$45 million range” and that that figure (according to an “official”), “would be perhaps 50 percent higher than the other bids. … [which] were either slightly above or slightly below $30 million.” Regardless of what an anonymous official says, 30 is not half of 45.^
^ Dammit all, it turns out that I’m the one who sucks at math: as three posters pointed out in short order, 45 is actually 50 percent higher than 30…even if 45 is not twice as much as 30, which is what I ended up saying. Alas. I’ll leave this up here so as not to whitewash my sins…
* He’s still pissed that George Steinbrenner won’t talk to him, although this anger is now couched as condescending pity: the Boss’s refusal to get on the blower with our man Murray is “sad.” “In the past, Steinbrenner would not have passed up an opportunity to comment caustically on what the Red Sox bid, especially with the evil empire label still in his mind. Those who have heard many of his comments can only shake our heads in sorrow and accept that an era has passed.”
* His irrational hatred of the Red Sox continues unabated: Chass asks — apparently in all seriousness — if the Sox’s bid for Matsuzaka is “evil” and decides it’s “[m]ind boggling perhaps, but not evil. Stunning perhaps, but not evil. Incredulous maybe, but not evil. Obscene, as an executive of another club said, but not evil.”
* Related to this, the inconsistency of his internal logic is as skewed as ever: After spanking Steinbrenner for not dishing out some incendiary quotes, prompted by Chass’s regurgitating of Larry Lucchino’s “evil empire” comments vis a vis the Jose Contreras signing, Chass takes those same comments at face value and tries to throw them back in Boston’s face.
* And finally, Chass’s understanding of baseball is as shakey as ever: the Contreras signing was a pure-payroll play; Lucchino’s evil empire comment was explicitly referring to New York’s seeming endless capacity to add payroll, luxury tax and repercussions be damned. The Matsuzaka posting bid, as many, many people have pointed out, is both a one-time cost and is unrelated to the luxury tax or total payroll.
That’s it for now. More on the post story post-8 pm tonight.
Post Categories: 2006 Hot Stove Season & Daisuke Matsuzaka & Murray Chass
lennyharris
18 years ago
Not to discount your other criticisms of Mr. Chass, but his math is correct. Bear with me:
45 = x% *30
45/30 = x%
1.5 = x%
So, 45 is 50% more than 30. In general, when figuring percentages, you start with the first number, i.e. 30, then the second number is x% more than that.
JB_UK
18 years ago
Seth, I’m no Murray Chass fan, but I think you owe Murray an apology if he said that the Sox’ $45 million bid is 50 % higher than the other bids. To wit, 50% of $30 million is $15 million and $30 m plus $15 m equals $45 million. Sorry dude.
Jack
18 years ago
45 is 50% higher than 30. Take 30…multiply by 1.5…voila. Or take 45 and divide by 1.5 if you like.
50% higher does not mean double.
Murray’s right.
wormfodder
18 years ago
the 50% figure is in reference to $30M. meaning if the Sox bid $45M and the next highest bidders were at $30M, then they were 50% higher ($15M) than their competition. at least that’s how i understood it.
And please, the fact that the $45M (or whatever it ends up being) isn’t reflected in payroll isn’t the point of the evil empire mention. lucchino was expressing frustration that the Yanks’ boundless spending let them reach (tentacles) all over the globe to buy the best players, which is exactly what the Sox are doing now. whether or not the $45M counts against the payroll is irrelevant. You honestly think lucchino’s comment would have been different if the Contreras situation was a one-time posting bid?
Jack
18 years ago
I wouldn’t have posted mine (and piled on) if I had seen the other two posts first. Sorry Seth.
No reason you should feel like you piled on — I received all three comments at virtually the same time and you’d sent yours in before the other two were posted. — Seth
Jack
18 years ago
Regardless of the math…I’m fired up that the Sox won the bidding. Now let’s just hope this kid lives up to the hype. It feels like Contreras-redux.
vapodge
18 years ago
$51.1 mil? In Seth’s math, that’s like 48% more than Gammons had reported! In all seriousness, I’m more than a little apprehensive about this, if Seth’s pitch count reports are accurate. Kerry Wood’s arm is Kerry Wood’s arm even if he is Japanese. Didn’t we just let a foreign weak-armed phenom go?
zoowah
18 years ago
Krishna, Jesus, Mary and Buddha help poor Zaka (and Epstein too) if he’s not the blessed incarnation of Roger and Pedro’s love child.
Talk about raw meat for the Monster.
crimsonohsix
18 years ago
Is it just me or is there no possible way the sox are planning to sign him? Unless they get an amazing 7 year deal to kind of amortize out the $51.1 M, they’re going to overpay by a huge margin for this guy, and long term deals (>3 years) are (with few exceptions) never inked by this front office.
It seems like they will try to trade the rights or just offer matsuzaka a ridiculously low contract to prevent him from going to the yankees for another year… (although the mets would have won the bidding)
matsuzaka homerun
17 years ago
„Äêvideo„Äëmatsuzaka homerun…
An animation of a home run in Matsusaka’s Japanese age.A place is Koshien Stadium where Ruth Babe said …
matsuzaka homerun
17 years ago
„Äêvideo„Äëmatsuzaka homerun…
An animation of a home run in Matsusaka’s Japanese age.A place is Koshien Stadium where Ruth Babe said …