Voice of Reason?

Peter Abraham says relax.


I have no clue where Matsuzaka ends up. But I find it hard to believe the Red Sox would bid $45 million. A few points:

1. Boston would not spend money on Johnny Damon. They have a system of determining the value of a player and not spending above that. Investing $90 million in Matsuzaka would be a total abandonment of their values. Frankly, if Boston wants to spend that much, good for them.

2. Buster Olney wrote this in his blog today: "One bit of speculation heard yesterday -- and it was nothing more than speculation -- was that maybe Boston had made an enormous bid, in the range of $45 million."

3. Screamin' A. Smith went on ESPN Radio and tried to make that into a scoop. No confirmation, no sources, no word from Japan. Screamin' A. Smith? Please.

4. Buster's story on ESPN.com says the Red Sox "may have" posted the top bid. Sure, they may have. Anybody "may have."

5. Let's say the Red Sox did bid that much. Why is Seibu taking so long to accept? Japanese reporters believe that the winning bid was far lower than expected and Seibu is deciding whether it is worth letting Matsuzaka go.

The man makes sense, but one of the commenters on MLBTRADERUMORS.com had said the Lions will announce the winner on the 14th. That is when there is a party to celebrate Japan's WBC win. Abraham makes sense for sure and who really knows if the Boston reports are true, but if a team was going to spend $30 million on the bid and a another $50 million on the contract, is another $10 million such a stretch to ensure he does not go to the Yankees?

One note to add is if the Red Sox did this to simply block the Yankees, they better think they can win this next year (I do not think they can). If not, they just delayed the inevitable and took whatever chance Daisuke might of had to go to another team and threw it out the window. In an open market, I think he ends up a Yankee. With the posting process, other teams had a shot.