Ok, theres so much happening in Red Sox Nation that I am sure most of your heads are spinning like mine. So I will be do the best to sort it all out for you.
As I stated in the last post, at 3:00 PM Dec 13th, NESN reported and confirmed that a deal with Daisuke Matsuzaka is either done or imminent. No matter what everything has to be done by midnight tomorrow night or there is no deal. This means anything and everything that both sides need to do needs to be done. I hope people at the MLB offices are working late tomorrow.
The deal with J.D. Drew is being held up right now due to a formality in his contract. It was thought he would be announced as officially signed at the press conference today that was held to announce the signing of Julio Lugo. The only person who can take care of the formality in Drew’s contract unfortunately is Scott Boras, who is on the plane with Dice-K back to Boston. J.D. Drew has returned home and I am sure will be back very shortly once Mr. Boras works out the Matsuzaka deal.
As I just mentioned, the Red Sox officially announced that Julio Lugo is joining them as their shortstop for the next 4 years at a price tag of $36 million dollars. He will wear #23 for them. It is expected that he will be the leadoff hitter for the Sox next season. Terry Francona said that during the press conference that Lugo’s main job is to score runs. His defense in no where near as good as Alex Gonzalez’s was but his bat is 1000x better.
Lastly, NESN is also reporting that Doug Mirabelli will be back next season for the Red Sox as Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher and back up to Jason Varitek. The deal is supposedly a 1 year deal and terms were not disclosed.
All in all a good day for the Red Sox as most of the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall together. I would have to think the J.D. Drew matter will be resolved by the end of the week.
UPDATE 6:00 PM: Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe is reporting that Matsuzaka is on his way to Mass. General right now for his physical examination. I guess this means a deal must be done since why would he take a physical if there wasn’t a contractual agreement. More to follow later hopefully at a press conference.
And a special treat to those of you have never seen Matsuzaka pitch. Enjoy these videos after the jump.
This first video is him pitching in the WBC against Cuba in the championship.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
xsptUfnhVcc[/youtube]
This second video is him pitching for the Seibu Lions.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
Qbk-9qUXLOg[/youtube]
The last video is his supposed gyroball pitch.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
Bdr0N9HDptg[/youtube]
Technorati: Boston Red Sox, NESN, Scott Boras, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Terry Francona
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