if that happens it will make a mockery of a system an even bigger mess

Yeah, I'm so sure Bud Selig, that notorious fan of the Yankees and Scott Boras, is going to hand Matsuzuka to the Yankees on a silver platter.

As with any rumor involving Bud Selig, the proper response is to ask, "What do Bud and the owners get out of it?" And in this case, the answer is ... uh ... um ... actually, what is the answer? Because I'm pretty sure "a new high in free-agent pitcher contracts" isn't something that was on their Christmas lists.

Hey, remember when Boras made a mockery of the draft system with Patterson, White, and Lee?

Yeah, welcome to 2006 where anything goes. Nothing this guy does will suprise me.

Anyone want to know where that rumor came from? It started at http://www.allballs.org, where some blogger named Shamus quoted a "good friend and reliable source," then was picked up by www.nj.com, where Yankee newspapermen/bloggersrepeated it, and, for some strange reason, declared that there's some truth to it.

WasWatching then picked it up from a comment on the Bronxbanter website, which failed to mention the rumor's dubious sources. And this, my friends, is why we we shouldn't trust the internet...especially when there are, whether they admit it or not, some pretty pissed off Yankee fans trying to spin the Matsuzaka saga in any way they can. (I'm not saying they all are...and Boston fans would do the same)

Unless Shamus has some reputation I'm completely unaware of...take this with several oceans of salt.

From what I know of the transfer system, there's no way Boras and Selig could cook up something like this. The transfer system is a result of negotiations between MLB and the Japanese league, and it operates under mutually agreed-upon rules.

I think the rumor is wishful thinking from Yankee fans who are looking at a team with a great lineup but a real lack of front-line starting pitching.

This is asinine. Right?

What would Seibu have to gain by giving the rights to Boras for less money? And if the answer is that the Red Sox arent going to sign Mats so the $25 mill would be better than nothing, then logically couldn't they just re-post and get a higher number from another team just as easily as they could "transfer the rights" to Boras?

I think it's a great rumor for a lazy Dec friday. Let's just try not to get too worked up over this just yet.

What's most ridiculous about this is that it doesn't work for anyone involved.

Let's say Dice-K does get a $100m contract from another team aside from Boston. What's Boras' take on this? Far less than $25m. So he'd come out millions behind. Will Dice-K foot the bill and repay Boras? Not up to date on laws regarding this, but I can't imagine that this is legally possible.

From the Seibu side, they'd rather give the rights to the Mets who reportedly bid $38m - the second highest bid - than take the $25m. Selig probably wouldn't care if he ended up in Boston or New York. They're both major media markets. What he doesn't want is this falling apart.

And it's not like what Boston's doing is so wrong. They're exposing this ridiculous system. If the reports that they're looking to offer something like $8m per year for five are true, how can you accuse them of negotiating in bad faith? This is for a pitcher who has never pitched in the Bigs. He may appear to have all the talent in the world but he's still an unproven commodity. Red Sox know that they hold the cards here. $8m for five, take it or leave it. If Dice-K goes back to Japan, not only will he make half this money being offered, he'll have to worry about injuries before he can come back as a free agent.

This is the worst kind of rumor - one that doesn't even make sense. It doens't benefit any of the current insiders of the negotiation process - dice-k, boras, selig, red sox, or seibu. dumb.

This will happen.

I said this on another blog. It really just sounds like people in Yankeeville trying to rationalize why the Red Sox actually outbid them on something and won a round in the free agent wars. Very creative.

This is either pure insanity, or Scot Boras truly is the Baseball Antichrist.

The voices in my head said that the Sox are going to trade Manny straight up to Boras, who's going to parcel him out to teams in 10 game increments @ $2million per, and that Bowie Kuhn and Commisioner Landis have given their blessings, from the cheap seats in purgatory.

What if this were all an elaborate scheme to prove Boras was not acting in "good faith" and to get him out of the game? Discuss. Seriously though, this is borderline Weekly World News headline/Bat-Boy fodder. Please do not rubberneck.

I'm sure 'Stability Uber Alles' Selig is chomping at the bit to squirt gasoline all over the JapaneseMLB agreement and apply a match. Additionally, the owners that he so loyally servers will be endlessly grateful that he allowed their favorite agent, Boras, to set a new high-water mark in free agent pitcher salaries.

Yeah, that's a good rumor...here's another one: Brian Cashman is actually a graduate of the Hogwarts School of Wizardry with a wicked cool magic wand who's gonna wave it while chanting a spell in something that sounds like Latin and the Yankees, miraculously, will have won the last five World Series and the all remaining Championships in perpetuity.

Jesus H Christ in a handbasket. Where the @#$! does this shit come from, anyway?

Bleepin' Yankees fans...

The rumor that I had heard when the posting for Mats was going on was that the $51 mil would not all go to Seibu. They would kick back a portion of it directly to Mats in Japan so he could avoid paying US taxes on it (maybe $15 mil or so). Boras and Mats would then negotiate a 'reasonable deal' with the Sox so that Boston could avoid luxury taxes on a monster contract. Basically the Sox would be paying Mats some of his salary or bonus through Seibu.
This rumor was spiced up even more by the idea that this whole deal, which would benefit Boston a lot, was tied to Boston agreeing to sign Boras client JD Drew if he declined his player option with LA. When they had agreed on a tentative contract, Drew then declined the option from the Dodgers. The current back and forth with Drew was just to make it look good.
Boras executed the deal for Mats after the Sox committed to Drew.

So if a complicated, shady, Boras-driven conspiracy theory is what you want for your weekend enjoyment, have fun with that fairy tale. I'll restrict myself to searching for Bigfoot.