Matsuzaka Deadline Approaches

Despite reports that contract talks for Daisuke Matsuzaka have stalled, I still believe a deal is going to get done. If a contract does not get done, nobody wins. Not the Red Sox, not Daisuke Matsuzaka, and not Scott Boras. Returning to Japan and leaving millions of dollars on the table is simply too risky for Matsuzaka.

At this time, the Red Sox have approximately 72 more hours to negotiate a contract with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox made an original offer to Matsuzaka about a week ago, an offer that Scott Boras has apparently deemed unacceptable. Boras has not since made a counter-offer and as a result, important members of the Red Sox front office have flown to southern California to meet with Boras and his client.

Scott Boras held a press conference at 9 PM on Monday night, which prompted the Red Sox to hold a late-night conference of their own. A press conference in which Theo Epstein made it abundantly clear what signing Daisuke Matsuzaka means to the Red Sox.

It appears highly evident that the Red Sox have every intention of inking Daisuke Matsuzaka to complete what would appear to be a strong starting rotation of Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jonathan Papelbon, and Tim Wakefield.

Here are some quotes from Epstein's press conference regarding Daisuke Matsuzaka:

"John Henry has very generously made his plane available, it's here in Southern California, it will leave on Wednesday morning. We hope Matsuzaka-san will be on it, that we can complete the physical in Boston in time to get a contract done."

"We do have plans to meet with them Tuesday. Again, we flew out unsolicited and called immediately upon landing and asked for a meeting, not only with Scott but also with Daisuke. We'll present the second offer, an improved offer, one that we hope will get this deal done. We're not frustrated. We're just doing everything possible under the sun to get a deal done. That's all we can do. We can control the Boston Red Sox actions, and we plan to leave no stone unturned."

"Signing Matsuzaka is extremely important to the Boston Red Sox. We're very committed to making sure that happens. Although it's normally not good policy to make a second offer without receiving a counteroffer, we want to demonstrate to Matsuzaka and to fans of Japanese baseball around the world just how important this is to us."

The clock is ticking, lets hope the Red Sox can come to an agreement with Boras and Matsuzaka. Luckily, Boras himself admits that the player has the final decision. Matsuzaka does not want to go to Japan, so this can only help the two sides hammer out a contract.