Goodbye Tradition

Daisuke Matsuzaka agreed to a 6 year $52 million (plus incentives) contract with the Boston Red Sox on wednesday making him the first $100M asian Major League Baseball player. Now many say the deal is in principle a "win-win" situation for the Red Sox. The signing not only boosts their rotation with quality young potential, it signifies the overseas reach of the organization into the far east and all the possible media and sponsorship benefits that will follow. But to be honest, the "win-win" is just hypothetical. Matsuzaka has yet to pitch in the Major League's and the Red Sox have invested $100M into the mythical "gyro-ball". But then again, with the Red Sox recent spending spree, including an astronomical 5 year $70M contract to perennial underachiever J.D. Drew (to put it into perspective, David Ortiz and his MVP-type numbers will be making one million less per season), I guess I'm not surprised. Ultimately, in order for this part of the situation to be a "winner", Matsuzaka will have to do just that, win, and do it alot, at least enough to get them past the first round of the playoffs. As for the second portion of the "win" situation, the Red Sox are a largely recognized team within the US, mainly because of their tradition and association with the New York Yankees. But lets face it, Boston is no New York City and the organization is going to have dig deep into John Henry's decaying wallet and significantly upgrade their promotional campaign in order to make the far east connection. And for a team that was the last in the Majors to break the color barrier, this giant leap they are about to make will be no small task. Sure overseas advertising will eventually litter the beauty of the Green Monster, but the Sox need to make dividends on their investments, and since Fenway can barely accommodate 34,000+, prepare to watch tradition take a back seat to capitalism. And so, the New York Yankees may still be the Evil Empire, but prepare yourselves, Boston is about to finish construction of their first Death Star.