There are 23 days left in the 30-day window the Sox have to negotiate with Matsuzaka after their $51.1 million bid to talk with him was accepted last Tuesday night by his Japanese team, the Seibu Lions. But Werner, like Boras, said the meeting was not about business.
"It was important for us to show Matsuzaka respect," Werner said by phone last night. "We thought it appropriate to give him a sense of how much appreciation we have for starting the process, and to show him we care a lot about making him feel comfortable about the organization in Boston."
The dinner appeared to have its desired effect, judging by the comments Matsuzaka made to about 100 Japanese reporters at the Staples Center after watching a Lakers game with Boras from front-row seats Sunday night.
"I was surprised to have a dinner with them," Matsuzaka said in comments translated by Gaku Tashiro, a veteran baseball reporter for Sankei Sports. "Meeting the Boston owner, GM, and the manager is the most impressive thing during this trip. I feel close to becoming a major league player."
For all the positive vibes generated by the dinner, negotiations on a contract may yet take on a different tenor. Neither side is willing to discuss publicly the course talks are taking, but it should not be considered a fait accompli that Matsuzaka will be in a Boston uniform next season. Do the Red Sox want him? Absolutely. Does the player want to play in the major leagues? No doubt.
Are there considerable obstacles to a deal? Yes, the primary one being a difference of opinion in how Boras believes his client should be paid and how the Sox calculate his value. Boras is expected to seek a contract similar to that given the elite pitchers in the majors today, which means at least eight figures a year, and he probably will want a clause making Matsuzaka a free agent after just three years, perhaps four at the most.
