Daisuke Matsuzaka

To the appeasement of most people in Red Sox nation Dice-K was placed on the disabled list for the near future yesterday, citing a weak shoulder. Given his recent struggles the decision appeared to be an easy one for the Red Sox brass and may have put their surplus pitching problem on hold for the time being.

Now may not the be the best time to evaluate the decision by the Red Sox to go out and sign the Right Hander but I thought that I would put my two cents in on the subject. For those of you not familiar with how Dice-K became a Red Sox let me familiarize you with the process that took place in the winter of 2006. On November 2nd, 2006 the Seibu Lions granted Dice-K permission to pursue a career in Major League Baseball via the posting system, the posting system allows Dice-K's former team to be compensated for letting him go, the winner of the posting fee is granted 30 days to negotiate a contract with the player being posted. The Red Sox of course won these rights on November 14th by bidding 51, 111, 1111 Million dollars which outbid the New York Mets, New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers. Having won the rights the Red Sox were now allowed to negotiate with Dice-K and his agent Scott Boras. Exactly 30 days after the negotiations began Dice-K was on a plane with the Red Sox brass, his agent and members of the media signing a 6 year-52 Million Dollar contract with an initial 2 Million dollar signing bonus. This was no doubt a strong investment by the Boston Red Sox and a move that will be scrutinized and questioned until the final day of Dice-K's contract.

Was it the right move?

The acquisition no doubt proved successful in its first year when the Red Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, bringing Boston its second world title in the last four seasons. Mr. Matsuzaka posted a 15-12 record in the regular season and was also 2-0 in the post season. While 15-12 was not exactly what Red Sox nation was hoping we held back criticism due to the overall teams’ success. Moving into 2008 expectations were through the roof. He had already played a season in the majors and did not have to worry about the World Baseball Classic prior to spring training. This was the year for Dice-K to prove to all of u fans that he belonged in the majors. He did not disappoint. Dice-K went 18-3 with an Era of 2.90. On the other hand he pitched the least amount of innings of any pitcher in major league history that had won 18 games. His slow delivery and tendency for getting himself into trouble with his walks did not exactly impress the Red Sox fans everywhere. However they were impressed with his .211 batting average against and his ability to win games. A fun fact about the 2008 season was that Dice-K was 11-1 when he walked three batters or less in his starts. He finished in the top 5 in CY Young voting, but failed to produce the World Series championship at the end of the season. All that brings us to the Dice-K we see before us today, an injured pitcher on he disabled list for the foreseeable future. Dice-K continued to struggle this year with his command but unlike last season could not wiggle out of trouble in the same David Copperfield like manner. Answering the aforementioned question of whether or not Dice-K was a good investment is as I said before a question that can not be answered until the end of his contract and we see the whole body of work. However as it stands right now I would have to say that the acquisition ha proven to be a success. I mean the guy won 33 games in his first two major league seasons and helped us win a world title. How many guys can you say that about in their first two major league seasons? Not many. Sure it’s frustrating to watch him walk the bases loaded but isn’t it more fun to see him wiggle out of it? I for one am certain hat this team will need Dice-k down the stretch this year in order to complete their ultimate goal of winning a World Series Championship. Does anyone remember Derek Lowe in 2004? He was cast out of the rotation and looked at as a liability until the playoffs where we all remember him as the winning pitcher for every series.

Oh, and one last thing, can we please end all of this Dice-K to the bullpen talk. It already takes him an hour to warm up, and he can not throw strikes as a starter what makes you think that him pitching in the bullpen would be a good idea?