The Red Sox won the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka, a Japanese pitcher with a fastball in the high 90s, great off speed pitches, and a brand new pitch called a "gyroball." He is so dominant (he won all three games in the most recent World Baseball Classic) and so popular in Japan that there is a generation of Japanese that are called the "Matsuzaka generation."
The Cubs were in the running. See, you have to put in a bid to the team in order to even get the privilege of making an offer to the player. The Yankees offered about $30 million, the Mets offered $40 million, and the Red Sox won with a bid of slightly over $50 million (plus whatever it costs to sign Matsuzaka).
I was really hoping the Cubs would win the bid (it isn't like they don't have the money). The Cubs need another big starter to go with Carlos Zambrano. It would also convince the fan base that the Cub organization was serious about winning, and I think it would have to be positive in terms of public relations, ad revenue, and the like.
Anyway...sigh.
Don't worry about pitching. I heard the Cubs just signed some guy. I think his name is Wood. Has a girls first name. I think it might be Shirley or something. Anyway, he doesn't have a "gyroball" but I think he has a spirograph.
Posted by: Clay | November 19, 2006 at 07:23 PM
Is this Soriano any good?
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