Trade/DL DiceK?

[TheKilo]

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2009/07/just_dicek_beinGodicek.html?camp=localsearch%3a%6fn:twit:mazz

 

Disappointed? No, no, no. The Red Sox are not disappointed. They are downright angry. At instants during an impromptu gathering in the middle of the clubhouse prior to tonight's game with the Oakland Athletics, Farrell looked as if his head were about to explode. The truth is that the Red Sox were tired of Matsuzaka's high-maintenance act a long time ago, but they kept their mouths shut and put up with it because Matsuzaka won games.

 

What Matsuzaka did not say, of course, was that he showed up in camp this year looking like the Sta-Puft marshmallow man. (What's the Japanese word for doughboy, anyway?) Asked about Matsuzaka's strength when the pitcher returned from the World Baseball Classic, Farrell said at the time that Matsuzaka graded out well when the club tested the pitcher's shoulder. In retrospect, what Farrell did not say was that Matsuzaka looked like he spent the winter eating dumplings and shumai, which the Red Sox believe contributed to the pitcher's problems.

 

"It's not just the shoulder," Farrell said tonight when asked about the importance of proper conditioning. "When the overall body is not in the condition necessary to support that, there has to be some responsibility taken [on the part of the pitcher.]"

 

Said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, "For $102 million, if he were to go out there and do it his own way with his own coaches, if Mr. [John] Henry came down and said 'What's going on with Daisuke?' and if we said, 'We're just letting him do it his way,' that wouldn't be a good answer."

 

Some of this is Mazz being Mazz but wow, seeing Farrell and Tito make these comments is shocking.

[Dojji]

Just about the last guy i would ever think of as openly criticizing one of his own players is Tito Francona. He came as close as maybe Tito ever will to throwing one of his own guys under the buss there.

[Mr Crunchy]

The longer Tito works for these guys the better he'll get at greasing the skids for departure and blatant character assasination.

[TheKilo]

The longer Tito works for these guys the better he'll get at greasing the skids for departure and blatant character assasination.

 

This old argument?

 

hi-f***ing-larious

[Rdsxmbnt]

This old argument?

 

hi-f***ing-larious

 

QFT

[jacksonianmarch]

ummm, yeah. Guys, I think DiceK is the next one out. Called it here

[Rdsxmbnt]

If he is, which is possible, it won't be because of the "character assassination" ********.

[Dojji]

It's not assassination if the guy is out there committing character seppuku.

[Mr Crunchy]

No it will be because he sucks but that isnt the point.

after watching these guys operate in the press all these years this s*** is entirely predictable.

[Rdsxmbnt]

It's predictable because no one's ego is bigger than the organization. Same thing will happen with Papelbon and Ortiz in the near future

[Mr Crunchy]

It's predictable because no one's ego is bigger than the organization. Same thing will happen with Papelbon and Ortiz in the near future

 

Agreed although Ortiz has eaten his share of s***,it wasnt that long ago when Gerry Callahan demanded the sox outright release this guy and that sent Ortiz on a semi tear.

Paps is gone when his time comes, they wont even offer him a contract in 2 years.

Then Pedroia will follow when he comes of age..They seem to despise any kind of characters at all and have moved everyone of them out of town at their leisure,some faster than others.

[Rdsxmbnt]

Then Pedroia will follow when he comes of age..They seem to despise any kind of characters at all and have moved everyone of them out of town at their leisure,some faster than others.

 

I'm not sure they really despise characters since they have had a lot of them over the years, but no doubt the leash is much shorter. Personally I like that approach because the egos need to be kept in check in this town and if the organization keeps churning out replacements then there's no reason to overpay for someone who's getting paid for past performance. Though I'd say I'd be incredibly disappointed if it happens with Pedroia (or Beckett), though both seem professional enough not to let these things interfere/branch into the mainstream.

[Ellsy]

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2009/07/just_dicek_beinGodicek.html?camp=localsearch%3a%6fn:twit:mazz

 

...

 

Some of this is Mazz being Mazz but wow, seeing Farrell and Tito make these comments is shocking.

 

Wow, I didn't know it was this bad...you know there's something wrong with a player when Tito actually goes out and has something to say about him.

 

I don't know if anyone has seen all the crap in Dice-BB's contract but it's ridiculous:

 

Daisuke Matsuzaka rhp

6 years/$52M (2007-12)

 

6 years/$52M (2007-12)

 

posted by Seibu Lions 11/06, with Boston submitting high bid of $51,111,111 to Seibu to acquire negotiating rights with Matsuzaka for 30 days

signed 12/06

 

$2M signing bonus

 

07:$6M, 08:$8M, 09:$8M, 10:$8M, 11:$10M, 12:$10M

 

full no-trade clause:may not be traded without consent, provided player gets his first day of Major League service during a guaranteed contract of at least 6 years after player has been with a professional baseball league team other than a major or minor league team

award bonuses: $0.5M for MVP ($0.125M for 2nd, $0.1M for 3rd, $75,000 for 4th, $50,000 for 5th), $0.5M for Cy Young ($0.4M for 2nd, $0.3M for 3rd), $0.1M All Star start ($50,000 for All Star selection), $0.15M for WS/LCS MVP, $50,000 for Gold Glove, $25,000 for Rookie of Year

 

may not be sent to minor leagues

 

escalators may increase contract value to total of $60M:

2009 & 2010 salaries increase to $10M with:

Cy Young award in 2007 or 2008, or

top 3 in Cy Young vote in 2007 and 2008, or

MVP award in 2007 or 2008, or

top 5 in MVP vote in 2007 and 2008

2011 & 2012 salaries increase to $12M with:

Cy Young award in 2009 or 2010, or

top 3 in Cy Young vote in 2009 and 2010, or

MVP award in 2009 or 2010, or

top 5 in MVP vote in 2009 and 2010

 

perks: physical therapist, massage therapist, interpreter, 8 first-class round-trip airline tickets per year between Boston & Japan, spring training housing allowance of up to $25,000, Boston housing allowance of up to $75,000, one-time moving allowance of up to $35,000, use of Lincoln Town Car or similar car, Red Sox player ticket package, including 2 field box seats, team employee to assist Japanese media, uniform No. 18

 

agent: Scott Boras

ML service: 2.000

 

And this guy is whining, coming into the club out of shape and unable to get a player out. Get this guy out of town along with his massage therapist.

[Mr Crunchy]

I make a living watching tendencies and behavioral patterns in men.

They like the IBM approach to things and as long as they win nobody will give a f*** including me.

That being said theyre about to lose about 60,000,000.00 worth of sushi cause this wont go down well in the land of the rising sun at all, now what do they do with this guy?

Will Yakamoto buy him back for the money on the table or is he going to be pitching in Rhode Island for 20M per?

[Spudboy]

I make a living watching tendencies and behavioral patterns in men.

They like the IBM approach to things and as long as they win nobody will give a f*** including me.

That being said theyre about to lose about 60,000,000.00 worth of sushi cause this wont go down well in the land of the rising sun at all, now what do they do with this guy?

Will Yakamoto buy him back for the money on the table or is he going to be pitching in Rhode Island for 20M per?

 

I see no reason why he could not be sold back to Japan for what he is on the books for.

 

He clearly does not want to be here. I don't know if it is possible. But I'd like to see it.

 

f*** the prick.

[yankeessuck013]

Maybe he's angry because because the Sox throwing regimen includes actually throwing over the plate?

[VA Sox Fan]

Francona: “It was a good step today talking to Dice.”

Posted by Julian Benbow, Globe Staff July 29, 2009 06:00 PM

 

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said he spent “a pretty good deal of time” on the phone with pitcher Daisuke Matsuszaka, who recently voiced frustrations in the Japanese media over differences with the organization on how he should be training and the way its affected his performance this season.

 

Francona said the conversation was a healthy one, pointing out that Matsuzaka made an effort to speak in English, which Francona respected. In the end, Francona, who along with Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell initially said they were disappointed, made it seem as thought the team and the pitcher had come to a better understanding of each other after the conversation.

 

“He made some points to me, which I appreciated,” Francona said. “He understood how we felt, and he was trying to make some points. The points I made to him were, 'Yeah, this is how we felt now where do we go from here.' I think that we had a real good day.

 

The goal of the conversation was to take the emotions out of it and move forward, Francona said.

 

“If you’re mad at somebody, or you’re disappointed in somebody sometimes you raise your voice, sometimes you get mad," he said. "Hopefully, when you get take the emotion out of things, then you come up with, ‘How do you make this better?” That’s how you always try to approach it and we got there today.”

 

Francona said he gave Matsuzaka a written exercise asking him to list the things that bothered him, so the manager would have a clearer idea. Among the items on the list were pitch counts and mound visits.

 

“Trips to the mound, sometimes he didn’t view it like we do,” Francona said. “When John Farrell makes a trip to the mound, we’re not trying get in the way of the game, we’re trying to help. But if it doesn’t help then we want to try and know why."

 

Francona acknowledged that as much as the Red Sox had done to make the transition from Japan to America an easy one for Matsuzaka, that there were some things they couldn’t account for.

 

For instance, neither Matsuzaka nor reliever Hideki Okajima was prepared for the travel, Francona said. “Both of them kind of hit a wall,” he said. There was also the strike zone, significantly different between the two countries. Another subtle but significant difference was the actual American baseball.

 

“You pick up a Japanese baseball, and I think the best word is almost ‘supple,’” Francona said. “You don’t need to rub them up. You take it out of the box and go play and it’s got a nice feel. That immediately got in the way of his split, and I understand that.”

 

Francona frequently sympathized with Matsuzaka’s position.

 

“I don’t think it’s fair for us to expect him to come to the United States join our team and jump on board when he hasn’t done that his whole life,” he said. “Saying that there are some things that we’re not willing to bend on because of health and productivity, and he understands that. I don’t know if he fully agrees. If I grew up in a different environment with different training methods I probably would feel the same way, so we’re trying to put our heads together and come up with the best of both as opposed to knocking heads.”

 

At the same time, he said there were certain things that the team would be unwilling to bend on.

 

“We do not discourage him from throwing as long as his shoulder can handle it,” Francona said. “He likes that physically, the touch and the feel, the repetition which I understand. He has to be able to handle it or it doesn’t do him any good. He’s going to regress. His shoulder’s going to be weaker, he’s going to go to an area where our medical people know he’s asking for trouble.”

 

“So when it gets to that point, we don’t let him. We’ve had to shut him down, we’ve had to cut his throwing back. We’ve told him if he shows up and he’s in shape and his shoulder’s strong then we will not get in the way of his throwing. That’s where we’re at with him and he understands that. Now it’s his responsibility to be that so he can throw.

 

In all, Francona said, “It was a good step today talking to Dice.”

 

***Francona gave an update on Tim Wakefield, saying that he threw from 60 feet yesterday, but also saying that there was no timetable for when Wakefield would throw from the mound.

 

“Wake is throwing as tolerated,” Francona said. “Yesterday he was about at 60 feet. We’re just not trying to go backwards. It’s a little bit slow. He is getting better. We’re encouraged I think he is. You guys saw him, he was walking crooked for about a week. I think he’s slowly starting to get better which is good. I don’t have a timetable when he’ll throw off the mound, but he’s doing better."

 

***Francona offered some inside baseball after last night, when the Sox decision to give up third base to runners played a role in their 9-8 loss. Francona was of the school it was as risky to defend third -- giving up the gap on the left side of the field to hold the runner at second while at the same time covering third -- as it was to let him run, since a single would score most runners from second anyway.

 

“When a guy runs into third uncontested, and the crowd ooos and ahhs like we haven’t paid attention and they fooled us – there’s times when we elect not to do that. And that makes sense.

 

“There’s a lot of different things that we think about that actually is kind of fun to think about during the game that doesn’t ever get noticed, but it’s just interesting. A lot of conversation goes on in the dugout about why.”

[BSN07]

ummm' date=' yeah. Guys, I think DiceK is the next one out. Called it here[/quote']

Been saying it for awhile now. And been getting killed for it.

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2009/07/just_dicek_beinGodicek.html?camp=localsearch%3a%6fn:twit:mazz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of this is Mazz being Mazz but wow, seeing Farrell and Tito make these comments is shocking.

If you got Farrell and Tito calling you out it can't be good...

[RedSoxRooter]

I make a living watching tendencies and behavioral patterns in men.

 

So where does this come from? Who's spreading this?

 

"BOSTON (NEWS CENTER) - Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is back with the Red Sox after leaving Tuesday night's game to be with his sick daughter.

Ortiz said his 8-year-old daughter Alexandra came down with a stomach sickness that required her to be hospitalized. She is now back home and doing well.

Ortiz told the Boston Globe today that she basically ate too much. She recovered in time to see the end of Tuesday's game against Oakland with Big Papi at her side."

 

http://www.wcsh6.com/sports/story.aspx?storyid=107575&catid=6

 

I probably wasn't the only one who just assumed he was being pinch hit for last night. So this type of "news" or whatever is meant to help him and his reputation, not hurt him. I think the current front office uses the media in a much better (and fair) way than previous owners.

 

I honestly think that was what the big dust up between Theo and Lucchino was about. Since then, who was the last player "run out of town" by the FO or the media? I reject Manny as one because he was a truly a pain in the ass.

[SoxSport]

Tito has his hands full with Dice-K, for sure. His interpersonal skills are being challenged.

 

I don't think players should be given free bases in save situations. Disagree with him on that.

 

Papi is a real problem for the Sox. Looks like his batting skills are diminishing. Not a great July after a solid June.Maybe he should be batting 6th again, as he did in June. May have helped. He doesn't do it at 3 or 4.

[Dojji]

Papi is a concern, but he isn't a "problem." By which I mean, his skills are declining but he's not making a fuss in the clubhouse or putting up issues if Tito decides to sit him for a game.

[Dipre]

ummm' date=' yeah. Guys, I think DiceK is the next one out. Called it here[/quote']

 

This about guarantees he won't be traded.

 

Ever.

[BSN07]

This about guarantees he won't be traded.

 

Ever.

 

Doh!

[Dipre]

Doh!

 

Your Homer Simpson impersonation is strangely solid.

[BSN07]

Your Homer Simpson impersonation is strangely solid.

 

[Mr Crunchy]

Up till the Sox traded Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz was the face of MLB baseball.

The smiling happy slugger who is black,latin and makes everyone around him happy.

Since Manny left Ortiz has been shall we say ""inconsistant"" for lack of a better word but Ortiz still kept his mouth shut and kept on smiling and didnt give these guys any cannon fodder outside the awful year hes been having..Was it about 6 weeks ago that Gerry Callahan called for his outright release?

Anyway

They wrote a nice human interest story as we got beat 2straight games by the worst team in the AL.

Now his daughter can be the poster child for Pepto Bismol or GasX,a wonderful gift for an 8 year girl.

If I were him Id be careful taking anything from that little girls hand in the next 5 years.

 

Do we really want to go down this road of depression?Shall we name names and scenarios or is it safer to say that most guys who leave here do so under less than favorable terms and the Boston media market is internationally respected as the biggest group of hatchetmen since we sent the Iroqouis packing 200 years ago...

All I personally care about is the teams success, I dont cry rivers over ball players making 8 figures but I do call spades spades under every and all condition.

[VA Sox Fan]

Matsuzaka: 'I want to correct some misunderstandings'

 

Posted by David Lefort, Boston.com Staff July 30, 2009 03:59 PM

 

Daisuke Matsuzaka issued the following statement today:

 

 

 

I spoke to [Terry Francona] on the phone yesterday, and I'm very glad that we had a productive conversation.

 

As for the reports from the past several days, I want to correct some misunderstandings. I did not go public with any complaints and I regret that some of my private conversations were made public without my knowledge or consent.

 

Also, I never said in public or in private conversation that: ‘If I'm forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able to pitch like I did in Japan.’

 

I had no intention of criticizing the team and we are, in fact, working together to communicate, to exchange ideas, and to try to understand one another's baseball culture as we move forward.

 

The team and I have had many meetings and conversations, and after shaking hands with the general manager, manager, and coaches on the 24th, I was able to resume my training in a good state of mind.

 

My goal is to put myself into a position where I can contribute to this team.

 

I look forward to rejoining my teammates and playing in front of the fans at Fenway Park.

..............

 

It didn't sound like anything Dice-K would say or do, have to take his word for it and move on....