Red Sox strike a deal with Japan's Matsuzaka

BOSTON -- The man with the $100 million arm is eager to add to the Red Sox rich pitching history.

Daisuke Matsuzaka's $52 million, six-year contract was announced Thursday by the Boston Red Sox, who hope he will follow Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez as an ace on the Fenway Park mound.

Add the team's winning $51.11 million bid for negotiating rights to the Japanese ace, which must be paid to the Seibu Lions by Dec. 21, and Boston's investment comes to $103.11 million. That doesn't include $8 million in escalators based on Matsuzaka winning awards.

And there's still at least four months to go before he throws his first pitch in the regular season.

Matsuzaka arrived in Boston late Wednesday afternoon on Red Sox principal owner John Henry's plane with the Red Sox logo on its tail after team officials negotiated with agent Scott Boras in Newport Beach, Calif.

Also on board were Boras and three Red Sox officials -- chairman Tim Werner, president Larry Lucchino and general manager Theo Epstein. After landing, Matsuzaka waved to fans from the back seat of the vehicle taking him to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he passed a physical.

The Red Sox won the bidding rights last month. Had an agreement not been reached by 11 p.m. Thursday, 30 days after the Red Sox won the bidding, he would return to Japan and they would have kept their money.

While the Red Sox announced the agreement, the terms of the deal had not been filed with the commissioner's office and the players' association, a step that had to take place to finalize the contract.

Matsuzaka has a 108-60 record in Japan with a 2.95 ERA and 1,355 strikeouts in 204 games. He was MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic last March, won by Japan.

He gets a $2 million signing bonus, $6 million next year, $8 million in each of the following three seasons and $10 million in each of the final two years. The agreement includes $8 million in escalators based on awards that could bring the total to $60 million over six years.