Daisuke Matsuzaka can either sign with the Red Sox or he can go back to Japan and play for two more years for the Seibu Lions. If that happens he would go back and be ridiculed by his country men and lose a substantial amount of "face".
Super agent Boras would have you believe that Matsuzaka is perfectly willing to do that unless he gets a contract commensurate with other big name pitching signings in recent days. That would be great if Matsuzaka was on the same level as the other pitchers but the fact of the matter is that he isn't. At the moment he is an unproven commodity upon whom the Red Sox have lavished 51 millions dollars for the right to give him a chance to prove his mettle at the major league level.
The Sox are reported to be in the 8 million dollar a year range in their contract offer and so far Boras has refused to even return a phone call. This has caused consternation in the Sox front office to the point that Mr. Henry has dispatched top brass to the West coast to wait on the agent's door step until they get a counter proposal.
At some point in time before the Thursday night deadline someone will have to get to Daisuke Matsuzaka and tell him what the risks are here. If he goes back to Japan with no contract, he will be laboring for another two years at short money with a tarnished reputation and the chance that an injury may significantly reduce his value.
Boras is gambling that the Sox are in some kind of a hole that forces them to spend the 51 million in rights fees plus something in the order of another 80 to 100 million to sign Matsuzaka. Guess again. If he doesn't sign that 51 million can be just as easily put into play somewhere else.
Boras cannot change the dynamics here. His client can sign with the Sox or he can hit the road back to the Japanese Central league. Sox management should sit tight and call the Boras bluff. The worst that can happen is that they save 51 million.
