When an Internet report surfaced yesterday that said the Red Sox "may have posted the top bid" for Japanese star Daisuke Matsuzaka, Joe Torre seemed disappointed, but not chair-breakingly so. "We came up short, evidently," Torre said before the gala dinner for his Safe at Home Foundation last night at Chelsea Piers. "It's one of those blind draws you have to deal with."
But other baseball officials, including Yankee GM Brian Cashman, weren't so sure Matsuzaka is Boston-bound. And a Red Sox source last night called the report "premature."
"I don't think anyone knows anything for certain," Cashman said, adding that he hadn't heard anything official from Major League Baseball.
ESPN's Web site, citing major league sources, said the Red Sox bid anywhere from $38 million to $45 million for the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka, who might be the best pitcher ever to come out of Japan. The site also reported that Texas bid $22 million. The Yankees said after Thursday's deadline that they had bid for Matsuzaka.
Red Sox sources, while acknowledging they were in the bidding, said last night they haven't heard from the Seibu Lions, Matsuzaka's Japanese club, who would get the posting fee if Matsuzaka agrees to a contract with the winning bidder.
ESPNの記事を紹介。トーレ監督は松坂に期待しているようだ。
西武は球団名は知らされていないのだから、最後の段落は意味不明。