In 2007, the Red Sox plunked down slightly over $100 million dollars for a pitcher named Daisuke Matsuzaka from the Japanese Pacific League’s Seibu Lions. Half of it went to the team for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka, but the rest went to the right-hander in the form of a 6 year contract. We should be so lucky.
Daisuke had something called a “gyroball”, to go along with 5 other pitches. And if you believed the Red Sox hype (or any Masshole Sawx fans you know), he was going to be the most unhittable pitcher since the Rocket. For one year, in 2008, he approached those expectations, going 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA.
But for his career, he has been hopelessly disappointing. Baseball Reference has Daisuke ranked slightly ahead of Eric Plunk historically, at #799. Not terrible, considering that there are approximately 300 pitchers in the league at any given minute. His career ERA is 4.25, and he threw 200+ innings in his rookie year, 2007, when he also led the league in walks. Again, not bad-UNLESS your team forked over 100 million smackeroos for your services.
Daisuke hasn’t pitched since May 19th, and the speculation is rampant that he will soon have season-ending Tommy John surgery. The timetable for return from the procedure is 12-18 months, and Daisuke’s contract will expire after the 2012 season. Which means it’s all over but the cryin’ for this miserable couple.
Neither one in this couple got what they wanted. PSYCHE!! The Red Sox didn’t get what they wanted out of their $100 million f**king dollars. Daisuke got a big fat American gut and an even fatter paycheck. So Looks like the joke is on Boston, and rightly so. Not even the Yankees ponied up fifty mil for the honor of negotiating with the prospect. There’s still time though…
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