Red Sox, Yankees take storied rivalry to Asia
After shelling out a combined $77.1 million (9.3 billion yen) for the rights to simply negotiate with two Japanese pitchers this offseason, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have brought their heated rivalry to Asia.
Daisuke Matsuzaka signed a US$52 million, six-year contract with the Red Sox in December after they bid US$51 million for his negotiating rights.
Shortly after that, Kei Igawa agreed to a US$20 million (??15.4 million), five-year contract with New York after the club bid US$26 million for his negotiating rights.
In baseball-loving Japan, Yankees officials are meeting with the cash-rich Yomiuri Giants, with which they have a tie-up.
The Yankees will also visit the training camp of the Giants’ arch-rivals, the Hanshin Tigers, whose southpaw pitcher Kei Igawa just signed a five-year, 20 million-dollar deal with the New York team.
The mega-deals have raised concerns that Japan is losing top talent, but Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said the trend showed the rising level of the game here.
The Bronx team has already developed major fan bases elsewhere in Asia following stars such as Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui and Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang.
MLB Baseball Futures Betting, 2006 World Series Odds at Bodog Sportsbook
2007 World Series Odds: Again, this isn’t to say that any of this holds any kind of predictive value (it certainly does not), but considering how horrible the Cubs were last season, it’s shocking to see the Cubs at 8/1 odds this high up on the list.
