Top News:
Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
Matsuzaka, Red Sox agree to terms — Results of ace's physical awaited to make 6-year, $52m deal official — Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital will have the final word, but assuming Daisuke Matsuzaka passes his physical, the best young pitcher in Japan will be pitching for the Red Sox next season.
Discussion:
Surviving Grady
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David Picker / New York Times:
Blood, Sweat and Type O: Japan's Weird Science — In the end, the Red Sox apparently decided to spend more than $100 million to get the Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in a Boston uniform for the next six seasons, a daring financial outlay for an athlete who has never thrown a pitch …
Discussion:
Ben Maller's Sports …
Jeff Goldberg / Hartford Courant:
Dice In Hand — Sox, Pitcher Reach Deal — BOSTON — As the plane flew east, the deal did not go south. — The Red Sox and Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka agreed to a six-year, $52 million deal Wednesday, bringing to conclusion a dramatic three days of negotiations with one day to spare.
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Matsuzaka deal appears imminent — Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and agent Scott Boras, philosophically worlds apart in the Daisuke Matsuzaka negotiations, put aside their differences at the 11th hour and are near completing a multiyear deal for the coveted Japanese pitcher.
Discussion:
Basegirl, ESPN, Sports Law Blog, Keep Your Sox On In Brooklyn and El Guapo's Ghost Rambles …
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
This decision goes to Sox, not Boras — If they were fleeced by Scott Boras in giving J.D. Drew a five-year, $70 million deal with no other teams bidding, the Red Sox have evened the score with Daisuke Matsuzaka. — The Sox did two impressive things during negotiations with Boras …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Associated Press:
Sox, Matsuzaka reach preliminary agreement — BOSTON (AP) - The $51.11 million the Red Sox offered to pay for the rights to Daisuke Matsuzaka was enough to get the Japanese ace across the Pacific Ocean. — It took that much again, and a little more, to fly him the rest of the way to Boston.
Boston Herald:
Dougie back in the fold: Mirabelli inks new deal — While the Red Sox [team stats] were flying across the country with Daisuke Matsuzaka in tow yesterday, the team filled another of its lesser needs by agreeing with incumbent backup catcher Doug Mirabelli on a one-year contract.
Boston Herald:
D-Mat, Sox get it done: Sign 6-year, $52M deal — The Dice is finally rolling the Red Sox [team stats]' way. — In a move that will provide them with arguably the strongest starting rotation in baseball, the Sox landed the largest prize of the offseason following a whirlwind day that spanned …
George King / New York Post:
BORAS, CASHMAN KEEP BERNIE IN LIMBO — While Brian Cashman plans on calling Scott Boras about Bernie Williams, the Yankees GM refused to comment when asked if the Yankees want the icon back for another season. — "I need to get back to them," Cashman said of Boras, who has been tethered …
Sports Illustrated:Done deal — Red Sox, Matsuzaka agree to six-year contract
Discussion:
New York Times, Clubhouse Insider, WELCOME TO, A Red Sox Fan …, Extra Bases, Baseball Musings, Boston Herald, Boston Sports Media Watch, Cursed To First, Canyon of Heroes, Sports and Music Blog, Sports Scope, Pinstripe Alley, Camden Chat, Bucs Dugout, MLB Trade Rumors, A New Pirates Generation, Lone Star Ball and Blogging Baseball
Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Nationals to Trade Vidro for Prospects — The Washington Nationals took a major step toward freeing room on their future payroll and breaking loose a logjam in the middle infield, agreeing to trade second baseman Jose Vidro — who has spent his entire career with the Montreal-Washington organization …
Discussion:
U.S.S. Mariner, Seattle Times, Fox Sports, Baseball Prospectus, Capitol Punishment, DCSportsChick, Federal Baseball, Nationals Farm Authority, MLB Trade Rumors, Lookout Landing, District of Baseball, William F. Yurasko, Can't Stop The Bleeding, Just A Nats Fan, 6-4-2 and Baseball Musings
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Geoff Baker / Seattle Times:M's acquire Nationals' second baseman Vidro
Discussion:
The Frinklin and Fred Show
Jim Molony / MLB.com:
Astros acquire Jennings from Rockies — Send Taveras, Hirsh and Buchholz in exchange for righty — HOUSTON — Wasting little time filling the void created by the departure of Andy Pettitte to the New York Yankees on Friday, Astros general manager Tim Purpura announced on Tuesday that the club …
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Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
This Year, No Anna Benson (Among Others) — A year ago, the Mets' holiday children's party at Shea Stadium was turned upside down by Anna Benson, who wore a revealing crimson dress in her role as Mrs. Claus. — Mrs. Benson has since relocated to Baltimore, where her husband, Kris …
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Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Wainwright appears more likely to be penciled into the rotation — Tony La Russa came to St. Louis brandishing what he argues is an impromptu legal document that binds the biggest name left on the free agent market to the Cardinals' unfinished pitching rotation. — It works only if "signed" is used loosely.
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays, Iwamura confident as deal nears completion … ST. PETERSBURG - Owner Stuart Sternberg isn't sending a private plane like the Red Sox did for Daisuke Matsuzaka, but the Devil Rays appear close to landing their own promising Japanese import, infielder Akinori Iwamura.
NY Daily News:
Bombers mull pitch for Pineiro — The Yankees already have Andy Pettitte in the fold, they likely have Kei Igawa on the way and they still have Roger Clemens in their sights whenever he decides about next year. — But a person familiar with the Yankees' thinking said the team …
Discussion:
Off the Facade
Carrie Muskat / MLB.com:
Cubs give Harben Minor League deal — Club had opted not to offer pitcher a contract by deadline — CHICAGO — The Cubs did not tender contracts to pitcher Adam Harben and catcher Jose Reyes by Tuesday's 11 p.m. CT deadline, but did re-sign Harben on Wednesday to a Minor League contract.
