The Boston Red Sox emerged Tuesday night as winners of the bidding for Daisuke Matsuzaka with a $51.1-million US offer and have 30 days to sign the Japanese pitcher to a contract.

Matsuzaka was named the tournament's most valuable player at this year's World Baseball Classic.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is mobbed at Tuesday's media gathering in Tokyo.
(Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press)

The Seibu Lions of the Japanese Pacific League announced they had accepted the high bid for their prized pitcher, and the major league commissioner's office simultaneously confirmed at the general managers' meetings that the Red Sox had made the offer.

"We're very pleased and excited," Boston general manager Theo Epstein said. "We've long admired Mr. Matsuzaka.

"Matsuzaka has a real talent. He would be a great fit with the Red Sox organization.

"We're excited to have won this part of the process. We're hopeful we can reach an agreement."

Even before the announcement, baseball GMs had assumed Boston would be the highest bidder in the blind process.

"We'll congratulate the winner and move on," New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Tuesday afternoon.

Matsuzaka is represented by Scott Boras who, last year, negotiated the deal that moved centre-fielder Johnny Damon from the Red Sox to the Yankees.

"Pitching, as usual, is at a premium," Boras said.

Agents roamed the lobby at the hotel where GMs are meeting, discussing their free-agent clients.

Some agents think the market will move more quickly this off-season because of the decision by management and the union to eliminate the Dec. 7 deadline for free agents to re-sign with their former teams unless they were offered salary arbitration.

Free-agent signings begin

Second baseman Mark DeRosa became the first major-league free agent to switch teams, leaving Texas for a three-year, $13-million US contract with the Chicago Cubs.

The Mets re-signed two players, agreeing to a two-year, $12-million US contract with 41-year-old pitcher Orlando (El Duque) Hernandez and a one-year, $3.8-million US deal with second baseman Jose Valentin.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya said some teams are unsure of where the marketplace is going, "so if they could do something quick, they're going to try to do it."

Mike Mussina's agent, Arn Tellem, kept up talks with the Yankees on a new contract for the pitcher that likely will be worth $23 million US to $25 million US over two years.

"We're in the red zone," Tellem said.

With Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt heading a weak free-agent class, pitchers will get top prices.

"There are 30 clubs and probably three-quarters are looking for pitching," Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "There's a lot of interesting pitchers out there.

"At the end of the year, the teams that have pitching, and healthy pitching, are usually the ones that are around."

Several issues to discuss

GMs, as usual, will hold their annual discussion Wednesday of whether to have instant replay available to umpires, a concept commissioner Bud Selig opposes.

In the past, the idea hasn't garnered enough support.

"I guess we'll get a sense of that tomorrow," said Joe Garagiola Jr., a senior vice-president in the commissioner's office.

There will also be talk Wednesday of whether to eliminate tie games, having them instead become suspended games.

On Thursday, the GMs will discuss whether to have uniform standards for storing baseballs, a talk prompted by the use of a humidor by the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

As for the post-season schedule, nothing seems to have come of the idea floated by Selig to give wild-card teams fewer home games in the playoffs.

"That is not officially on the agenda, so I suspect that will be some good lobby talk," Garagiola said.

GMs did vote on one rule change, proposing that outright assignments to the minor leagues not count against the number of optional assignments a team has on a player.

That must be approved by owners and the union.