Daisuke Matsuzaka throws a circle change in the World Baseball Classic this spring (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye, File)
Earlier I briefly discussed the Red Sox pursuit of free agent JD Drew (I was in favor of it - marginally - but not at $14 million per year, and not if it meant he'd be replacing, rather than augmenting Manny Ramirez in the lineup). Well, the team added another player, Daisuke Matsuzaka (currently being bandied about as "Dice K), and frankly I couldn't be happier. They overpaid for the right to talk to the player; they did not overpay for the player.
Matsuzaka was the MVP of last year's World Baseball Classic, won by Japan, and he's got four solid pitches with control. He's only 26 years old; he's not injury prone, to this point anyway; he's excited to come to Boston. Boston fans will be getting immersed in Matsuzaka-mania well before spring training.
NESN, the television station owned by the Red Sox and Bruins, scheduled an 18-hour "Matsuzaka Marathon" on Thursday. On Friday night it scheduled a replay of the championship game of this spring's World Baseball Classic; Matsuzaka won that game for Japan and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
That will be the first opportunity for many Red Sox fans to see him pitch. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has seen plenty: Matsuzaka won Japan's high school championship, pitched in two Olympics and was the MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic this spring.
The Red Sox will try to win the AL East this year, but in truth they've already won the East - the Far East, that is.
